Fried Zucchini Blossoms

Saturday was a beautiful day for the Proctor Farmer's Market.

We are typically browsers at the market.

 Looking for something to jump out to us. I am usually focused on the flowers or possibly a few new plants for the yard.

But today we were elated when finally they had zucchini blossoms in.

We had been wanting to experiment with stuffing and frying them but they aren't exactly easy to find and it seems like you have to get to the farmers market pretty early before everyone else scoops them up first. This time we were lucky and happy to be so.

We got them safely home and began searching for the recipe that tempted our tummies best. We settled on one from the Food Network by Giada, she hasn't steered us wrong with any recipe we've made from her yet. The goat cheese is what made the final decision on this one.

We were ready for a new adventure in the kitchen with this one.

G removed the delicate stamens from the blossoms

while I mixed the goat cheese with cream cheese, green onions

and basil from our slowly growing basil plant.

We debated how to best stuff these fragile blossoms and determined a spoon would be too big and possibly tear the petals so we tried to use a pastry bag made from a ziploc bag for easy disposal.

Our process worked pretty well so we made it through the stuffing part without doing too much damage to the flowers.

And the bag definitely made the process go a bit more quickly.

Once all of the blossoms were stuffed I mixed up the flour with some sparkling water and salt and decided we'd use our new baby fryer outside.

I heated up a bit of organic marinara sauce to dip the blossoms into after frying.

We opened a bottle of one our favorite Oregon Pinot Gris' from Adelsheim Vineyard.

We learned some things we'll do differently next time we get the pleasure of making stuffed zucchini blossoms. 1) We'll add a bit more stuffing because it seemed in the frying process some of the blossom's stuffing had seeped out a bit too much. 2) Our fryer is far too small and the temperature can't be controlled well enough to keep the oil hot enough so we'll just do it in the dutch oven next time.

We did absolutely enjoy our new dish and the process. They were delicate and delish!

Fried Cheese-Stuffed Zucchini Blossoms

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis, 2008

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sparkling water
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus extra for seasoning
• 1/3 cup (2 ounces) goat cheese, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons (1 ounce) cream cheese, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1 green onion, finely chopped
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 8 zucchini blossoms* see Cook's Note
• Vegetable oil, for frying
• Serving Suggestion: serve with your favorite marinara sauce or vinaigrette
• Cook's Note: Zucchini blossoms can be found at farmer's markets and specialty grocery stores. As an alternative, try using baby bell peppers. Cut off the tops and remove the seeds. Fill with the cheese mixture and dip the cut end in flour before dipping in the batter

Directions

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, water and salt until smooth. Set aside.
In a small bowl combine the goat cheese, cream cheese, heavy cream, basil, and green onion. Mix until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Spoon 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons filling into each blossom. Close the blossoms and gently twist the petals to seal. In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan, pour enough oil to fill the pan about a third of the way. Heat over medium heat until a deep-frying thermometer inserted in the oil reaches 350 degrees F. (If you don't have a thermometer a cube of bread will brown in about 1 minute.) Dip the stuffed zucchini blossoms in the batter and allow any excess batter to drip off. Fry for 1 to 2 minutes, turning occasionally, until golden brown. Allow the cooked blossoms to drain on paper towels. Season with salt and serve with your favorite marinara sauce or vinaigrette.