Potatoes Revenge and mystery squash

Potatoes from the work potluck still sit waiting to be used...and then came Ginormica the Squash at Thanksgiving. One of the aunties who grew her, cut  up pieces for many of the families. Dave's sis, Sarah, said her entire-cake sized slice was going to be more than they could handle. So how could I refuse giving a veggie a loving home?

Upon investigation at home, my plans for making squash bread went piff. The meat of  squash was almost transparent like a cucumber but did not have the cucumber flavor and not quiet as juicy. I have no idea what kind of squash this is-it reminded me a little of the texture of chayote squash ("muppet") which you can eat raw like cucumber or microwave and eat like a baked potato!

I added 1/2" by 1/4" chunks of it to my onion, egg and beet greens fried rice--not soy-free, unfortunately I have not made it a priority to try making a soy-free soy sauce.

The second recipe I went back to trusty Heidi's 101 Cookbooks after Googling watery squash recipes or was it just squash gratin? Anyway this recipe is killer. #1 It heats up your cold house because you use the oven. #2 You use up 1.5 lbs of squash (her's calls for summer squash...which I have learned is more a name for texture/cooking uses rather than when squash are available...I still see zucchini in November at the farmer's markets-anyway it worked great with Ginormica) #3 The citrus zest is adds some special zazzle  #4 the recipe seems easy to make dairy and gluten free. As I move away from dairy, I would love to try this with coconut oil. I tweaked the recipe ingredients just slightly with what I had on hand:

Preheat oven to 400F.

PREPARATION A-put zest in lightly oiled gratin dish or glass baking pan about 7x11, then salt the squash slices in a colander for 15 minutes.
zest of two small limes
1.5 lbs of squash cut into 1/6" slices
1/2 tsp fine grain sea salt

PREPARATION B HERB SAUCE to make while squash sweats; stick everything in blender or food processor.
1/4 cup fresh oregano leaves
1/4 cup another herb (today used 3 self-made ice cube tray dill cubes)
1 large garlic clove, coarsely chopped
1/4 tsp sea salt
pinch red pepper flakes
1/4 cup olive oil and 1/4 cup water


 PREPARATION C:  melt butter over medium in saucepan until it browns, let sit 2 minutes and add crushed chips; Toss Prep A, 2/3 of Prep B and Prep C (leave one cup butter chips to sprinkle on top) together in a large mixing bowl. Put into the baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining chips and bake 40-50 minutes until potatoes are cooked through. Then add the rest 1/3 of Herb sauce on top.
1/4 cup unsalted butter
2 cups crushed tortilla chips (one 101 Cookbooks suggestion was to use crushed nuts as a gluten-free option.)
1/2 pound of potatoes cut transparently thin

I split up the preparation one night and baking another night. I called my roomie to let the dish sit on the counter for 2 hours to avoid putting very cold glass into a hot oven and then baked an extra 15 minutes.

What is your favorite new food that you tried this year?