When I was a small child, my Grandmother lived in a farmhouse in the country where we would go to visit and spend the night or weekends. Life on the farm was so full of things to do and see. We always enjoyed going there, and one of my fondest memories is of her Fried Zucchini blossoms. I can't recall to this day how she made them, I just know that it is the only place I had ever had them. The taste and smell of them cooking never left my mind all these years.
I have been thinking about Zucchini blossoms often these days, and have always wanted to grow a garden with some Zucchini JUST so I could have the blossoms to fry. (I do use Zucchini for other things, but I really planted with the blossoms in mind)
So, I planted them this year and the blossoms are FINALLY ready. (I swear I was getting up in the middle of the night with a flashlight out to the garden to check on them...well I thought about it) Next step was call Mom and find out what Grandma did as far as batter and cooking. Mom doesn't remember Grandma making them! How COULD she not remember? LOL I didn't dream it up. She made them!
Onto the internet I went and found some instructions by Tyler Florence of the food network for a simple batter and deep frying.
The MOMENT these hit my taste buds, a flood of fond memories of the farm came to me and made the whole process absolutely worth the time. I had a smile the rest of the afternoon. My kind of comfort food!
The cast you need to hire:
10-12 Zucchini blossoms with the stems
1 C. all purpose flour
2 large egg yolks
1 C. Ice water
Oil for frying, enough to have 3 or more inches of oil.
Paper towels, salt and pepper
Now before you go willy nilly cutting Zucchini Blossoms from your plants...STOP! Did you know that there is a male blossom and a female blossom? And that only the female blossom will produce the Zucchini? So, if you want fruit from your plants you should only cut the male blossoms. Yep...here's the process:
Mr./Mrs. Bee travel to a male blossom and
collect pollen on their legs while they eat.
The bee then travels on to other blossoms, including the female, and leave pollen from the male blossom.
This causes the female blossom to produce
the fruit. You can see a small zucchini forming
under the female blossom. The male blossoms
won't have the fruit under them.
This is actually spaghetti squash. But the flowers and process are the same. Click on the picture and look at the inside of the flowers. You can just see the difference in the stamens between male and female blossoms.
Look closely and you can see the little bits of pollen on the leaves that the bees left behind.
Click on any image to enlarge
Here is why it's important when cutting them from the plants to leave a partial stem on the blossom. You need something to hold on to when you dip in the batter. Dip them and get them covered, then drip the excess off.
(I didn't have a long enough stem on one and it fell into the batter)
Carefully drop them into the oil, don't drop from a high distance. Just kind of slide them in. Try not to overcrowd your fryer, I cooked only about 6-7 at a time so they would float around freely and not stick to each other.
Let them fry a couple of minutes, then gently turn the over. You want a golden brown, not a dark brown. If you get them too dark the blossom pretty much disintegrates. I liked them best when I could still see a slight amount of green showing
Transfer them to paper towel lined bowl and salt them right away. Let them drain a few minutes before serving.
I have everything set up so I can go into the batter, then into the oil. I placed a paper towel down between to catch any drips, and make clean up easier.
Heat your oil to 375 degrees
Separate the egg yolks from the whites and place them in a deep bowl.
Whisk up the yolks until mixed and smooth.
Add the ice water and whisk till well mixed.
Now add the flour and whisk until it's nice and smooth.
It should be the consistency of heavy cream. If it's too thin, add a little flour..too thick, then add a little water. You want it to stick to the blossoms, not run right off them.
