Zucchini Blossom Tempura

Sunshine & Stuffed Blossoms - Perfect afternoon dish with a cold, crisp glass of white wine.

Another variation on the fried blossom - this one is stuffed with goat cheese, then dipped in a tempura-esque batter of flour, a touch of baking powder and sparkling water - you'll know it's ready when the slurry that forms is just enough to coat all the tines of a fork. I was talking with a friend at Headhouse market this Sunday and he mentioned his never-fail batter of 50/50 flour & cornstarch...next time I've got cornstarch in the pantry I'll give it a go.



The trick to keeping the cheese from exploding into the frying oil is to really twist & pinch the tops of the blossom before immersing them in the 375 degree oil.



On a side note, we've begun harvesting the first of our crop of Roma tomatoes from the container garden.

The Other Kind of Awesome Blossom

Summer time is here again and that means one of our favorite ingredients are in full bloom - zucchini blossoms!

Here's an example of a typical harvest from our patio garden. It's best to pluck these early in the morning and then stand them in cold water in the fridge.

This year we went overboard planting the zucchini & squash in the hopes of extending our growing season.

Although we were careful to only harvest male flowers, we found that over-picking the blossoms caused the plants to give up early and yellow-out before any fruit appeared.

Often times we found several ants crawling around inside the flower, which called for a thorough cleaning - here you can see a flower that's been cleaned and prepped for stuffing.

Here's a typical full-on Sunday dinner incorporating the blossoms - Lamb with crispy seasoned onions, a simple grape tomato salad, a ramekin of squash, topped with bread crumbs & a fried blossom and then two cheese stuffed blossoms.

Here's a closeup of the goat-cheese stuffed blossoms. This year, instead of a heavy tempura-style batter, we're dusting the blossoms in seasoned flour and frying them up as-is. The result is a much lighter fried blossom with all of the great cheese filling.

I know that Headhouse farmer's market has been bringing in some great blossoms lately, so now is the time to experiment - stuff the blossom with a spoonful of your favorite semi-soft cheese, twist the blossom top closed, dip in a batter and then fry till it's golden brown.

Fiori di Zucca con Insalata di Polpo Estate - Crispy Zucchini Blossoms with Octopus Summer Salad

One of our favorite farmer's stand, Blooming Glen, is bringing back the "wow" produce from last summer...massive zucchini blossoms. We decided to take advantage of the large cavities of these blossoms to stuff them after a quick-fry and a light dusting of cheese.

The result is a Crispy Zucchini Blossoms Stuffed with Octopus Summer Salad.


Fiori di Zucca con Insalata di Polpo Estate

Why Octopus? We were going to go with something a little more light & sweet, like crab-meat, scallops or shrimp, but we notice that Whole Foods had baby octopus on sale for $5.99#.



Baby octopus, unlike their full-grown siblings, are much less of an ordeal to clean & cook; no need for elaborate tenderization procedures here...just cut the head off and make sure the body is clear of ink sacs and any odd bits. Discard the heads and rinse the remaining body & legs.



Next, the octopus bodies go into a marinade for about an hour; we used a mixture of lemon juice, capers & caper brine from the jar with a healthy dose of olive oil. I threw in a few green peppercorns after the fact just because I was curious what the milder spice would do...in the end it wasn't a noticeable addition of heat.



With the "polpo" marinating, it was time to prep the blossoms. We clipped the "fruit" off the end, a miniature version of what most people associate with being the zucchini. Next, we sliced the mini-zucchini into matchsticks, making sure to trim off any hint of seedy center...I probably could've used a veggie peeler or mandolin to get the same effect of thin green zuchini shavings.



Elizabeth seeded & finely diced some heirloom tomatoes from the farmer's market.

Next, the zucchini strands were blanched in hot water, then shocked in a ice-bath.



"Summer Salad" - The veg mixture was combined together with some kosher salt, cracked pepper, olive oil, lemon juice and diced garlic scapes...yes, garlic scapes. If you're not familiar with these, take a moment to brush up with this link...for the rushed reader, simply imagine a garlic-flavored crunchy green bean...these added not only crucnhy chew, but a pop of subtle garlic flavor to the intense tomato & zucchini flavors.



With the salad chilling it was time to apply soem heat. The marinating octopus went onto a super hot grill plate to char-grill. Just a few moments and these cephalopods were ready to be pulled off, cooled and chopped up.



While the octopus grilled away, Elizabeth prepped the blossoms for frying. Normally we stuff these with cheese or batter them before frying, but lately we've come to enjoy the simply delicate crunch of a lightly floured & fried blossom...naked blossoms is one way to describe it.

Elizabeth sprays them with some olive-oil non-stick before shaking the flower in a flour-filled bag to coat; we use rice-flour as opposed to all-purpose because it creates a tighter crust with more crunch, but regular flour is fine...just make sure to add a pinch of salt to avoid a bland coating.




Next, the flour-dusted blossom gets handed off to me for a quick dunk in the boiling oil; I use the tongs to maintain the right shape of the final blossom...in this case, I actually insert the tongs up into the blossom and spread the folds of the bloom back to prevent them from closing up as it bubbles away in the bath...after all, we're going to be stuffing these with the zucchini-tomato salad, then topping with octopus, so we'll need to have them splayed out for an easier time.




The blossom comes out of the fryer and then it's a race against the clock...a heaping spoonful of the zucchini-tomate salad goes into the blossom, the we top it with a sprinkling of chopped octopus and finally dust the entire plate with some mild pecorino cheese to give it some aroma and provide some flavor to the delicate crispy petals of the fried blossom.

The final result is a colorful tribute to the flavors of a high-summer garden with a little unusual protein thrown in to compliment the somewhat unordinary crispy texture & taste of the stuffed cheese-dusted zucchini blossom crisps.

Zucchini Blossom & Squash Gratin w/ Grilled Leg of Lamb & Tomato Vinegar Slaw

Our four little zucchini plants have thrown down the gauntlet and are pumping out blossoms at a record rate, leaving us scrambling for unique ways to cook them up. These things are the rabbits of the culinary niche-gardening world...Elizabeth gathered up 4 more this morning to go along with the 8 already in our fridge from this weekend...total count is 31 blossoms in the last 3 1/2 weeks.

Elizabeth adapted one of her signature recipes (Squash Mini Casseroles - follow the link) to incorporate the blossoms.

She chopped the older blossoms up into quarters and sauteed them along with the yellow squash, them blended the veg saute into a mix of panko bread cumbs, greek yogurt & a smidgen of goat cheese.

She had the idea to crispy fry some blossoms and place them atop a finished & browned gratin.

We dusted the blossom in some seasoned rice flour then dipped them into a 375 degree canola oil bath.

I had to hold the blossom lightly to shape the blossom & keep the leaves from spreading open in the fryer, but the end result yielded beautifully crispy blossoms for garnishing the mini squash casserole with.

To accompany the squash we purchased 2 lbs. of butterflied leg of lamb from Whole Foods; it was on sale at 6.99 per lb., which made for a perfect grilled accompaniment to the casseroles...plus, there would be plenty of leftovers.

Here's the final result of the grilling...char-grilled exterior, pinky medium-rare center.

I scored the meat on both sides, marinated this hunk of lamb in some salt, pepper, garlic & lemon juice for 1/2 hour and then threw it meat side down on a blazing hot grill to char, before flipping it over, fat-side down, and cooking for another 20-30 minutes on indirect heat.

After the center registered 135, I pulled the lamb off the grill, plucked a handful of thyme from the garden and threw it atop the lamb as it was tented in some foil to rest for 10 minutes.

To accompany the lamb, we made a tomato & red onion slaw, spiced with salt, pepper, mint & cumin, drenched in olive oil & red wine vinegar and allowed to steep in the fridge while the lamb cooked on the grill. The minty cool and bracingly tart tomato & onion salad worked well to softened the strong char-grill of the lamb.