Squash Blossoms
I’ve been meaning to visit Farmer Jones farm in Huron for years.
Dad and I looked into taking classes there.
They were famous for supplying chefs with mini vegetables and they pivoted last year during the pandemic and started selling more to homes.
They’re expensive but really good. I’ve wrestled with this a bit but have been increasingly spending more on my food and trying to buy more directly from farmers and farmers markets.
Anyway, I visited there on Saturday to pick up my order and the guy helping me out was Chef Jamie Simpson from their videos.
If you pick up in person you get a bonus item and I was overwhelmed by the choices.
A young woman behind the counter suggested aliums - but the box already had spring onions and leeks. Jamie started to suggest greens but the box had kale and spinach.
He walked over and handed me a container of squash blossoms.
I’ve never prepared them but they looked beautiful so why not.
Most recipes I found suggest stuffing them with a mix of a soft cheese like ricotta, goat cheese, or even cream cheese and herbs. Next time I’ll try goat cheese.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have any so I used some pizza cheese that I had and mixed it with some olive oil to create a soft-ish cheese.
I also had bread crumbs that I’d made myself from some homemade whole wheat bread.
I was ready.
Ingredients
- 10 Squash Blossoms
- 4 tablespoons of a soft creamy cheese
- 2 tablespoons of assorted herbs (I used basil, mint, and chives)
- 1 shallot or green onion
- 1 egg
- Bread crumbs
Bread Crumbs
If you don’t have bread crumbs, take bread and slice it thin then cube it. Put it in a very low oven (250 F / 121 C) and let the bread totally dry out. It took about an hour for me.
Crumble the cubes into crumbs - I don’t mind having a rice sized piece mixed in with mostly sand sized pieces.
Directions
Cut the herbs and shallot or onion and mix them in with the cheese along with a little salt and a good amount of pepper.
Open up each squash blossom. Remove the stamen at the bottom (I don’t know why but every recipe said to).
Fill each blossom with the cheese mixture and wrap the petals back around to seal the mixture inside.
Beat the egg in one bowl and use another bowl for the bread crumbs.
Dip each blossom in egg and then coat it in bread crumbs.
Most recipes call for deep frying the blossoms. I air fried them in a convection oven and highly recommend it.
I lightly sprayed each blossom with oil and air fried on 400 F / 205 C for ten to fifteen minutes.
The outside was crisp and the inside creamy.
