Zucchini
June 16, 2008
There are so many wonderful zucchini recipes and all of them benefit from young tender freshly picked zucchini. The fascination with enormous size zucchini is an American gardeners’ phenomenon. Avoid it. Large, old zucchini are not worth cooking.
Just like the beauty of youth, the prime of the zucchini’s life is while it is still young. Home gardeners have the luxury of picking both young zucchini and zucchini flowers that are perhaps the most delicious part of the zucchini plant.
Pick only the male zucchini, the ones that are attached to the vine. The female flowers are attached to the ends of the little zucchini themselves and are mushy. Pick the male flowers, and dip them in a batter of flower and water, slightly more water than flower, that you have whipped constantly with your fork to make a light paste.
Dip the flower in the batter, let the excess drip off, and fry to golden brown in extremely hot vegetable oil. Turn the flowers once, and remove to paper towels to drain the excess oil.
Season with salt and pepper and enjoy while warm.
September 13, 2008 at 7:15 pm
I have been seeing the zucchini flowers at the markets for weeks and not sure what to do with them. I really appreciate your post and suggestions and I am going to try them. I love zucchini and summer squash and do a lot with them from stir fries to omelets, but I am always looking for new ideas.
November 8, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Greetings, chef –
I’m intrigued by the last recipe… fried zuccini flowers. I’ve been wanting to try it for a while, but there’s one thing that always stops me in my tracks. What do I do with all that left-over oil? You see, it’s only my husband and me, so using a liter of oil seems like a waste. Can the oil still be reused after frying? If not, what is the smallest amount you can get away with for this recipe? In other words, what would a frugal Italian do?