The pretty yellow blossoms on squash and zucchini plants are not just a sign of the fruits to come. They are edible and quite delicious when stuffed with herbed goat cheese and tempura fried!
Summer squash and zucchini are as easy to grow as they are productive.We just planted one of each this year and we have plenty of blossoms and fruit to enjoy. Only the pollinated female blossoms will produce a squash baby, so you may want to harvest only the male blossoms that grow on a long stem. Both are edible, so pick away if you don't mind reducing your production of squash.
We are still new to making these tempura fried squash blossoms, but after two times we are already obsessed! We took a tempura batter recipe from last month's Mother Earth News (
Click here to check out the article on "20 Ways to Use Your Zukes"!). Of course, we modified it a bit. We LOVED the whole wheat flour batter. I think next time, we should use a beer batter!
Here's how to make them.. from plant to plate!
What you will need for 10 squash blossoms:
1 cup all-purpose flour
Salt & pepper to taste
1 large egg, chilled
3/4 cup ice water in a medium bowl
1 cup plus 2 tbsp all purpose flour, sifted & chilled
*Less flour is needed for whole wheat. The wheat seems to swell up more than the unbleached. Try 3/4 cup for wheat and add more if needed.
At least 4 oz of goat cheese
Frying pan w/ about 3 inches of vegetable oil
Pick'em:
Pick your blossoms in the late morning when they are fully open. Cut the stem about an inch or two below the blossom. Check for bees when you are picking! Remove the stamen and gently rinse the blossoms before preparing to cook.
Stuff'em:
Carefully stuff your cleaned blossoms with about a table spoon of goat cheese. The blossoms are very delicate, so they will probably rip when stuffing. Fold the sides of the blossom around the filling to seal it in.
Dredge'em:
Combine salt and pepper with the 1 cup of flour. Lightly dredge the blossoms in the flour and set aside.
Make the Batter:
Break the egg into the bowl of ice water. Slowly whisk in the sifted flour and mix just enough to combine the ingredients well. Put batter in the refrigerator while heating the oil to 350 degrees.
Batter'em & Fry'em:
Dip the blossoms in the batter until well coated. Carefully drop them into the hot oil and fry for about 2-3 minutes until golden brown.
Let'em Rest:
Drain on a paper towel for a few minutes. They are very hard to resist, but try to give them about 10 minutes to cool. The outside may seem fine, but the goat cheese inside is VERY hot! Small nibbles first!
ENJOY!
We dipped our blossoms in liquid aminos, which tastes like soy sauce, but not as strong. You can really experiment with different dipping sauces. Check out the article in Mother Earth News (linked above) for their yummy sounding dipping sauce that uses seaweed, bonito flakes, soy and ginger.
So, if you have never grown squash or zucchini before, you should seriously consider it next year. You will be very lucky to find the blossoms for sale, even at a farmer's market. How else can you enjoy this amazing, eyes-rolling-back-into-your-head treat? Grow it or get invited to dinner! Are you that lucky?
