Garden Progress...Specifically Zucchini Blossoms!

When Rob told me that the zucchini blossoms had finally bloomed the other day, I was on a mission. I have heard so much about the delicacy of stuffed zucchini blossoms and I could not wait to make them!

Giada DeLaurentis to the rescue! I found her recipe on Foodnetwork.com and I will walk you through it today :)

We went out to pick our blossoms first!

Monkey has to say hello to Mr. Owl of course

The cucumbers are starting to bloom too!

and then it is time to water the garden!

Now it's time to go inside to make our blossoms!

Ingredients:
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 cup sparkling water
* 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus extra for seasoning
* 1/3 cup (2 ounces) goat cheese, at room temperature
* 2 tablespoons (1 ounce) cream cheese, at room temperature
* 2 teaspoons heavy cream
* 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil leaves
* 1 green onion, finely chopped
* Freshly ground black pepper
* 8 zucchini blossoms* (*if you are not growing your own, you will sometimes be able to find the blossoms at a farmer's market or specialty grocery store)
* Vegetable oil, for frying

How we made them:
In a small bowl we combined the goat cheese, cream cheese, heavy cream, basil, and green onion (I substituted red onion- my favorite). Mixed until smooth. Seasoned with salt and pepper, to taste. Then spooned 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons filling into each blossom. Closed the blossoms and gently twisted the petals to seal.

Then I made the batter by whisking together the flour, water and salt until the mixture was smooth.

We then dipped each blossom into the batter, let the excess batter drip off and dropped them individually into the deep fryer for 1-2 minutes (you can also just fry them in a pan on the stove but if you have a deep fryer it makes it so much easier).

As the blossoms came out of the fryer, we drained them on paper towels

Here is what the finished product looked like (with a bite taken of course)....crispiness on the outside with a flavorful, smooth goodness inside. We think the taste of the basil made all the difference (and yes we used the basil that we are growing on the deck!)

Pure delish