Why it works: Corn and wild rice work together. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and 19 recipes mention both. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
The recipe
8 servingsIngredients
Contains: milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Place the acorn squash halves cut side down in a baking dish with a splash of water and bake for 30 minutes, until the flesh starts to soften.
While the squash bakes, melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the diced onion, minced garlic and chopped mushrooms and cook, stirring, for about 6 minutes until softened.
Stir in the long grain and wild rice mix and the vegetable stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, until the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed.
Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the dry corn bread stuffing mix and chopped fresh sage until evenly combined.
Turn the squash cut side up in the baking dish, pressing the flesh lightly if needed. Spoon the rice stuffing into each half, mounding it over the top.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the squash is tender when pierced with a knife and the stuffing is heated through. Serve hot.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Corn + wild ricetop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together19 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together29,030 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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Bread + buttertop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together27,145 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + mushroomtop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together12,516 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
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Garlic + mushroomtop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together4,685 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (acorn, corn, bread, butter, garlic, mushroom, wild rice):
- Tomatoabout as good a flavor fit
- Capsicumabout as good a flavor fit
- Onionthe original
- Spinachabout as good a flavor fit
Fit is the average pairing score against acorn, corn, bread, butter, garlic, mushroom, wild rice. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
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