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Saturday, July 18, 2009

Fried Zucchini Flowers



Fiori di zucchine fritti


The flowers come from aunt Alice's veggie garden in Teven, Veneto.

They need to be picked in the morning, as soon as they open, and cooked on the same day.









Clean the flowers: never wash with water, just remove the sepals, and then open each flower and remove the style and stigma (and any insect that may be living inside!). I like to leave the stems, so that the flowers can be lifted in and out of the frying pan easily.




Make a batter with one free range egg, 1 tbsp of flour and a little beer. You can add a pinch of salt, but it is not necessary. I prefer to sprinkle salt on the flowers once they are fried.


Dip the flowers in the batter (holding them by the stem) and then fry in plenty of vegetable oil until golden. Sprinkle with salt and eat immediately.



12 comments:

  1. Make me nostalgic of holidays I spent in the south of Italy 3 years ago...
    I discovered zucchini flowers at this time and just fell in love with..!

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  2. Thank you Vanille, no zucchini flowers in France?

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  3. fatti e mangiati anche stasera ma ripieni di mozzarella e alici alla romana insomma.
    io da quando ho scoperto la pastella stile tempura non uso altro in tutti i fritti pastellati.
    purtroppo non sarò a roma il 24 e me ne dispiace moltissimo, non sappiamo ancora dove saremo forse nel salento ma sono le nostre uniche ferie dell'anno.
    un abbraccio e spero che ti stia divertendo.

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  4. Mi sto divertendo da matti, grazie Enza! E stasera con i fiori mia madre fa delle polpettine come faceva mia nonna, con i fiori tritati, uova, farina, pan grattato e parmigiano. La tempura la faccio in Nuova Zelanda, quando di fiori ne ho 4 in croce (sai, i piatti giapponesi sembrano tanti assaggini, e anche un fiore solitario ci sta bene...), ma qui mi butto sulla tradizione....e poi pensa che la birra che uso di solito e'quella locale, birra Pedavena!!!!

    Mi dispiace da matti non vederti, ma sicuramente ci vedremo un giorno, lo so!!!

    un bacione

    A.

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  5. I saw these at the farmer's market the other day and wanted to buy them, but I wanted to find a good recipe first and yours looks delicious!

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  6. These are lovely Alessandra. Thank you. It's nice to have an entry from Auckland. ;)

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  7. yam-yam. I have tucked ricotta cheese inside and deep-fry after rolled over in flour only and that was also nice...

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  8. Alessandra, we spoke about your zucchini flowers - divine. I'm sending you a yellow recipe for the Taste of Yellow as I don't have my own blog.
    So I start by crushing in a cup of warm milk a few strands of saffron and a garlic clove. Leave it for an hour, mixing occasionally

    Then I use that milk to make a thick béchamelle using 50gms of butter, 1/2 cup plain flower, 1 cup of (by now yellow) milk, 2 cups of home made chicken stock, and while it all cooks slowly I toss in a couple of anchovy fillets and grate on it some nutmeg and black pepper. The anchovies soon dissolves and you've got to remove the garlic when the sauce is ready. Let it cool down.

    Steam a whole cauliflower after removing the core and the tough outside leaves. When done (maybe 15min, depending on size) let it cool down considerably then pour over it enough sauce to cover it. By using cold sauce and cauliflower you ensure the sauce does not run off the cauliflower.

    Stick it in the hot oven till the top is golden, and serve whole with the sauce in a bowl or beaker with continental parsley.

    The presence of the anchovies and the parsley means any thought of parmesan are absolutely forbidden.

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  9. Thank you all for your comments.

    Claudio, maybe you can still contact Barbara directly
    by clicking on a Taste of Yellow...or start your own blog, it seems to me that you are really into food!

    ciao
    A.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thank you all for your comments.

    Claudio, maybe you can still contact Barbara directly
    by clicking on a Taste of Yellow...or start your own blog, it seems to me that you are really into food!

    ciao
    A.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I think to cook zucchini flowers is typical from Italy, right ?
    I've never ate them before my trip in Puglia. It was delicious, filled with ricotta...
    A friend of mine has zucchini flowers at the moment in her garden. I'll send her the link of your blog to make a good use of these pretty little 'things' ;)

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  12. Beautiful presentation!
    I love them!
    Barbaraxx

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