I’ve got so much to do today as we are off camping in North Wales, so I shouldn’t really be posting about stuffing courgettes. That said our very cute Border Terrier Ernie is snuggled on my lap and tea is mashing in the pot so I have a few moments to spare before the chores begin.
Our friends the Faloon’s are on holiday and we are heading off to water their greenhouse for them later today. In true local grower style we tend to swap produce and baked goods when we have a glut of anything, so they generously gave us the lovely courgettes above with flowers attached as they would have turned into marrows by the time their holiday was over.
The flowers on ours usually get eaten by the snails and slugs before they get to this stage but I did manage to add a few to the pot. I have always wanted to try eating the flowers as I have seen it so often in books and tv programmes.
I stuffed them with a mix of marscapone (I had not got the traditional ricotta so I savouried it up with finely grated parmesan and cheddar), mint leaves, lemon zest, salt and pepper. This was losely based on the Times recipe and I made the tempura batter and briefly fried them. We ate them with Maldon salt and lemon wedges. They were nice but very rich. Must get that ricotta next time.
We also had roast pork with crispy crackling and a delicious dish of french, runner and broad beans from the garden with a few of our freshly harvested shallots and a lovely dressing that I can’t tell you about because Ed made it whilst I was tending to the hot courgette flowers.
Now, where’s that camping list…
Thomas
August 12, 2009
Oh yum! You read my mind! On my to-do-list was to find a recipe for stuffed zucchini (courgette) flowers for the ones I HOPE to harvest this fall. Yours look fantastic!
On an side note, what brand/model of camera do you use? The lighting in your pictures are always so amazing!
thingswemake
August 12, 2009
Thanks for the positive comments. I have just harvested some that are destined for soup. We use a Nikon D80, which is a great camera. But I am also very fussy about light. I don’t like flash and prefer morning or evening natural sunlight light so I often to be found wandering round the house and garden with some food and the camera and tripod trying to find the best source! Hope you are settling into your new home and garden.
Thomas
August 25, 2009
I use a Nikon D60…love the camera. Very easy to use. I agree with you about flash…I generally have it turned off. Getting a tripod is definitely on my to do list. My hands aren’t proving steady enough for the longer exposures associated with no flash. Thanks for the info!
lisamichele
August 15, 2009
These are one my favorite summer snacks in the world, but I rarely get to have them since most want to continue to grow the zucchini or squash. Truth be told, There’s enough of those, as they grow like wild fire..so let me pick some! lol I love the mascarpone stuffing and the tempura batter is the perfect coating, since it’s much lighter than your basic batter, whatever it may be. Yours are gorgeous and making me want to cry since I want them so badly! Beautifully done and lovely photos 🙂