If Your Garden Grows Any Kind Of Summer Or Winter Squash Pick the Blossoms
There is gold in them thar gardens! You don’t need to wait for the squash, pick the blossoms and follow me.
For years I watched my squash vines glow with golden flowers beckoning me to pick and use. I watched cooking shows prodding me to enjoy these flowers as a savory dish. Yet, there are not just a few of us wary of tasting petals as real food. Eureka! I plunged in and made the journey that is to become a tradition when I espy this morning gold of my garden. You must pick in the morning, they are withered by the noon day sun.
The esteemed cookbook author-restauranteur Yotam Ottolenghi waxed poetic about being served squash blossoms for breakfast as a child. Now I understand! This version is but eggs, parmesan, and olive oil. The results yield a lovely omelet-like dish also great as a side to any meal.
Collect the blossoms in the morning by cutting and storing in the fridge in a plastic bag—no washing, no paper toweling required. Continue to collect the blossoms for up to a week or until you get about 3 blossoms per diner. Then follow this recipe
INGREDIENTS: Serves 3-4
- squash blossoms, 12-15
This is a male flower [note single stamen]. There are a flush of them in the first cycle of blossoms - eggs, 3
- salt, 1/4 tsp.
- pepper, 1/4 tsp.
- parmesan cheese, 1-1/2 TBS.
- Olive oil, generous for shallow frying
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Note: some people remove the stamen and the bottom of the blossom and then cut to yield a flat petal. I find it faster and simpler to use the whole blossom.
- Clean blossoms using a bowl of water: hold the blossom by the stem and gently spin under water. Lift blossom out of water and a gently spin to remove excess water. Lay on toweling and complete other blossoms.
When you collect the blossoms carefully cut and hold only by the stem, which is also your handy spindle to rinse - In a bowl beat the eggs, add the parmesan, salt, and pepper.
- In a frying pan large enough to hold 3 or 4 blossoms, pour enough oil to shallow fry, about a 1/3-1/2 cup. [Use the leftover oil for another frying event.]
- Heat oil until it shimmers. Add a small spoonful of batter to test oil, it should immediately begin to bubble.
- Submerge a blossom into the egg mixture and drain lightly over the bowl. Add to the pan and repeat until pan is full without touching blossoms. Sauté a minute or two until browned and flip and repeat. Lay on paper toweling and then keep warm in the oven until served.
- When blossoms are out of the pan and if you have leftover batter, pour in and scramble to serve along with the blossoms.
- Tasty as a planned-over!
