Pan fried squash blossoms

Let's talk about those big, beautiful yellow flowers on squash and zucchini. They are completely edible and are a popular ingredient Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, South American and Asian cuisines. They are good raw in a salad or battered and pan fried (see below).

Squash and zucchini have both male and female flowers on each plant and bees do the pollination. But, before you harvest them, you need to tell the girls from the boys. Male flowers usually outnumber female flowers by about 3 to 1. As long as the males have done their job pollinating, these are the ones to harvest.

How to harvest:

• Female flowers are easy to identify they always have a tiny fruit just behind the flower. This is the ovary. After pollination, the flower fades, falls off and the fertilized ovary develops into the fruit. Female flowers have a stigma in the center of the flower, which looks like a cluster of bumps around a central opening. This is the part that receives the pollen.
• Male flowers tend to have long stems and lack the swollen part behind the flower. Male flowers have a long  pistol with anthers (the part that produces pollen) in the center of the flower.
• Before you harvest all the male flowers, ensure the females are fertilized. To do this, take one male flower, peel back the petals and dab the pollen-coated anther on to the stigma of any open female flowers. Now, go ahead and harvest the rest of the male flowers. 

Battered and pan fried squash or zucchini blossoms

• 80 mL (1/3 cup) flour
• 2 mL (1/2 tsp) salt
• about 3 oz ice-cold water or sparkling water
• 15 mL (1 tsp) milk (omit if lactose intolerant)
• 8 to 10 squash or zucchini blossoms 
• olive oil for frying

1. Rinse the blossoms in cool water. Retain a little of the stem - this makes it easier to dip. Remove the pistol if desired. The petals are fairly tender but don't worry if the blossoms tear.
2. Make the batter by combining flour and salt in a deep bowl. Add the milk and whisk. Add water or sparkling water a little at a time, whisking as you go until it reaches a thick consistency. Beat well for another 1 - 2 minutes.
3. Set the batter aside to rest for 10 minutes.
4. Coat the bottom of a frying pan with olive oil and preheat the pan on medium/high. The oil should be fairly hot. Test with a drop of batter to see if it is hot enough.
5. Dip the flowers into the batter to coat completely, then add the flowers to the hot oil in the pan. The oil should sizzle a little when you put them in. 
6. Pan fry until golden on one side and then turn to cook the other side. When done, remove from the pan and place on a clean dish towel or paper towel. 
7. Serve hot or warm!
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Variation: Stuff the blossoms with about 15 mL (1 tbsp) of a soft cheese like ricotta or goat cheese or  before dipping into the batter.