Courgette (Zucchini) Flowers

Courgette Flowers | Photo: Kelly Hunt Well, now that you”ve had a good look at them – aren”t they just the most beautiful little buds that you”ve ever seen? This …my friends… is (to those who are not familiar) the elusive Courgette Flower. I first heard about eating courgette flowers.. or zucchini flowers on Jamie Oliver”s show Jamie at Home. I tried growing zucchini a few years ago and was quite successful, but at that time I was unaware of the tasty morsel blossoming right before the fruit appeared. I payed no attention to this flower, other than admiring it”s fetching yellow colour, not knowing that I could actually eat it. The courgette flower is becoming increasingly popular, so popular that you can now find these little lovelies at the Farmers Market on a regular basis throughout July and August- only while the zucchini is blooming. I got these particular buds at the Trails End Market on Dundas Street. Here is what I decided to do with them. I soaked them, because apparently this makes the flowers easier to work with.. I did not think it helped, keep in mind that they are a delicate thing, so you just have to take your time, chill out.. sip some wine, and think like a zucchini. The next step was to remove all the stamens out of the flowers. Capers in Bowl | Photo: Kelly Hunt Then I decided on what to stuff in them. I went with capers, sun dried tomatoes (in oil),some fine sea salt,a dash of pepper, some local goat cheese and fresh basil. I mixed this all together, just till it was blended and then.. the challenging part.. with a spoon, I lightly stuffed the little courgette flowers with my mixture, it was not too hard, just a little time consuming. I then twisted each end closed, so the mix would not fall out. Courgettes Fried | Photo: Kelly Hunt Then, I mixed up a simple batter of 1/4 cup flour, 3 eggs, 3/4 cup of milk and salt to taste. I heated up in a deep pan, about 2 or 3 inches of oil. I used a combo of sunflower and olive oil. Then dredged each flower in the batter and then popped it into the oil to fry for a few minutes. A word of advice, do not overcrowd the pan, otherwise they all stick together and you get a courgette blob. Courgettes Fried | Photo: Kelly Hunt Once they are all fried, I just let the grease run off of them onto a paper towel and then we ate them! I feel that you really need something to dip them into, I went with a chili sauce type of thing, but Sean preferred his with wasabi mustard, to each his own.. chacun a son gout!  Read More