Photo by Laurie Smith http:// www.lauriessmithphoto.com
A few years ago I wrote an article 19 Ways to Cook Squash Blossoms but I only included one semi-complete recipe. The other day my friend, Thomas Andres, an expert on squashes (Cucuburitas) somehow convinced me to do a squash blossom only-cooking session. Joining us were Hugh McMahon, known for his intricate and very realistic portraits carved onto pumpkins ( and watermelons in the summer), Bill McGrath, a structural biologist who investigates the structure of a protein from a human virus (one that causes common cold), and his wife Meg, a vegetable pathologist whose goal is to enable farmers to better control diseases plaguing their crops..
They arrived with 3 huge bags of three different kind of blossoms for us to work with as we drank pumpkin ale. It took me three days to go through all them.
Photo by Thomas Andres
They were hungry so as soon as they got there I sauteed some blossoms with onions, garlic, jalapenos, and pipicha, a grassy herb I had picked up at the Staten Island Farmers’ Marke. It put them on thin commercial corn tortillas topped each with some fresh mozzarella cheese and cooked the quesadillas until crisp..
Photo by Meg McGrath
I had also picked up some fresh huitlacoche at the market. It took a while to clean it, pat it dry, then saute with onion, garlic, roasted poblano chiles and some epazote. I added just a touch of Mexican crema, let it cool, and 6’11” Bill McGrath, stuffed it into the largest blossoms. He then floured, dipped in egg, and rolled each in fresh bread crumbs, and baked them. We served them with a roasted tomato. roasted onion, roasted garlic sauce.
Photo by Meg McGrath
Our last effort for the day, was to make the more traditional ricotta cheese stuffing which did not work exactly right because. I should have made it with 1/2 pound ricotta, 1 beaten egg, half cup of parmesan cheese, a tablespoon of flour and some herbs. it did not hold well becasue I forgot the egg. I served them with a yellow mole.
In the past I have simmered the stuffed squash blossoms in a flavorful chicken stock until set, eliminating the messy frying and added calories.
Photo by Meg McGrsth
Thomas also had brought some spaguetti squash and I roasted it and served ith mole de Xico. It was an inspired combination if I say so myself.
Left with a large bag of squash blossoms, the next morning I went online and discovered this great article in the Huffington Post. I immediately started working on the sensational Indian-style sauteed squash blossoms, my favorite new dish.
Bad photo by me
I then started working on a zucchini blossom frittata which looked pretty but lacked umph. I served it with more mole amarillo but, the nex time, I’ll add some chopped chiles and plenty of herbs.
A semi better photo by me
And to cleanse my palate, I stuffed the remainder and pan-fried them.
