Today is my last day of summer vacation in Italy. I wanted to cook something special for my family to celebrate our amazing post-COVID vacation. Food memories always bring us back to Nonno's garden and the creations that Nonna came up with using the simplest and often most surprising ingredients. Today it's flowers. Zucchini flowers. Big orange zucchini flowers! I remember the first time I saw Nonna make them, it blew my mind! Who eats flowers? I'm a picky eater, so I was skeptical. Fried zucchini flowers, fiori di zucca fritti, ended up being one of my all time favorite things. They were a seasonal item, only made during the month of June when Nonno's garden was in full bloom. We were also limited as to how many we could make, so they were like gold, divided up evenly so everyone got their fair share of that pot of gold! As Nonno explained, you should only pick the male flowers because they are the most tasty (the female puts all of her energy into her baby). If you remove too many flowers, they won't be able to fertilize and produce more fruit. Check out the video below for a nice explanation on finding the difference between a male and female flower. Today I can get my zucchini flowers at the grocery store or the local produce market when I am in Italy. If I am really lucky, nice friends will give me flowers from their gardens. It's nice that I can even get them at the supermarket in August, but they are certainly not the same quality as Nonno's that came straight from the garden that morning. Fiori di Zucca Fritti Ingredients: Zucchini flowers Flour Cold beer Salt & Pepper Olive Oil If you are picking your own zucchini flowers, watch the video above to learn how to choose them for your best results. Try to pick male flowers. You should cook them within one day of picking them as they begin to decompose very quickly.
Create a batter using flour and cold beer. Note: I don't weigh/measure my ingredients. I go by eye., but the ratio of flour to beer is about 100 grams of flour and 200 grams of beer. I usually start with 200 grams of flour and 400 grams of beer. If I look like I'm running low, I just add more of the ingredients. Using a whisk, I stir until the batter is smooth without any lumps. Add salt and pepper to taste. Put olive oil in a fry pan and heat to a medium level. Be careful not to make it too hot or it will burn. Dip the flowers into the batter and place in the hot oil. It should bubble and brown within a few minutes. Flip over and fry the other side. If you notice that the batter just stays while and doesn't really turn golden brown, you probably need to add some more olive oil. I use a paper towel to absorb the oil and then salt them. They are best eaten immediately while hot. Buon Appetito!
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About CathyI'm a wife, mother, friend, educator, traveler, creator, tech lover, (and much more) inspired by Brene Brown's call to being vulnerable and daring greatly. Archives
September 2020
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