from the garden

back in new york a dear friend of mine introduced to me the art of frying zucchini blossoms. previously, i had the pleasure of eating them in italy, but never expected i'd make them myself. it's not hard really but one would think tossing a delicate little flower into a searing hot pot of oil is murderous. all it takes is egg, flour, salt, crushed red pepper and oil for frying.

my ingredients last night:

3 blossoms

1 baby zucchini

2 eggs

small hand full of corn meal

sea salt

black pepper

crushed red pepper

canola oil

first i steamed the baby zucchini in a diluted chicken broth. steaming before frying ensures that your fried veggies will be juicy, fully cooked and won't need to spend much time in the hot oil. now i'll admit my batter was pretty eggy (i could have used just one egg) but pouring in the left over mix makes for a tasty bonus. one might even say leave the egg and flour separate, but mixing the ingredients all together makes for a fine spongy crust.

so how long did i fry? only until the batter was golden brown, they are delicate flowers after all. when the zucchini went into the steamer i place the blossoms in the batter and let them soak, then set them aside. so in fact, the zucchini chunks were fried first, the blossoms second. and boy were they a mouthful - literally! i had forgotten how delicious they are, and to my surprise i got them just right.

at the same time, i sauteed cauliflower with mint, basil, garlic, olive oil, butter and a generous pour of white wine. near the end i tossed in 1/2 a vine ripened tomato (not from the garden, but the toms are growing!). i used only the smallest bit of salt (one thing i'm trying to cut down on) and crushed red pepper to taste. together with the zucchini fry we put the cauliflower over a bed of romaine lettuce and squeezed on some lemon.

while the meal was not entirely from the garden, katie and i got a taste of what dinner will look like later this summer, and no doubt it looks good...