Edible Flowers

A few weeks ago my boyfriend Ryan and I were at a farmer's market when I saw these beautiful zucchini blossoms.
I knew immediately that I had to do something with them, because they are one of my favorite foods and not always in season. Zucchini blossoms are best known stuffed with some kind of soft cheese, most commonly ricotta for its mild but creamy flavor, and then fried in tempura batter. I actually love the blossoms without the ricotta also, because the flower itself has this indescribably amazing and fresh taste. You can fry the blossoms without the baby zucchini attached, but why do that when you can kill two birds with one stone. Tempura-ed zucchini is delicious too.

The tempura batter is so easy to make:
Mix equal parts beer and flour, and then add a generous pinch of salt. The batter should be the consistency of crepe batter, which is slightly thinner than pancake batter. (Use light beer; if you don't have that seltzer water like Perrier also works perfectly). About one cup of beer/flour each is a good amount for at least ten blossoms.

Pour 1 to 2 inches of vegetable oil in a deep pot. We couldn't find one so we used a wok and it worked fine. Heat up the oil to about 375 degrees. One by one, dip the blossoms in the batter and then drop into the pot. Fry them until they look golden brown. Depending on how hot your oil is, it could take less than a minute or two whole minutes--just guestimate. Scoop out the fried blossom with a perforated spoon or with tongs and place them on a paper towel to drain.

They should come out like this:
They are best while still hot and crispy! Sprinkle some sea salt on top and they're ready to go. My mouth is watering just typing this--when you bite into the blossom you will get all the juices from inside; mixed with the crispy tempura and the salt it is so good.

This recipe is so easy--it basically consists of three ingredients, two of which (vegetable oil and flour) you should already have in your pantry. Just go out and buy fresh vegetables or shrimp and you can tempura just about anything (and everyone knows that everything is better fried). But tempura is also a lighter batter than what you would normally associate with deep-frying, so it doesn't overwhelm the produce.

Yum!