Squash Blossoms: Just Doing It

All of a sudden, all over the Web, are an astounding variety of ways to cook squash blossoms. Yet, in the library of cookbooks that fills my office, nary a squash blossom recipe showed up. In the past, I'd gotten by on recipes from Gourmet and Food & Wine, that that were copied into my computer. One simply presented two different methods for frying the blossoms unstuffed. The other, a Greek version, called for stuffing the blossoms with feta cheese, then dipping them in egg and breadcrumbs before frying. My initial inclination was to stuff my blossoms with feta in the "Greek" fashion, and then use one of the other two frying methods.

Further inspiration came in the form of Cheese-Stuffed Squash Blossoms with Shaved Baby Squash and Toasted Pumpkin Seeds from Epicurious.com. Just reading this recipe convinced me that here was the ultimate preparation---for anyone with the time.

With four other dishes to prepare and an otherwise busy schedule, I simply borrowed a little here, a little there, and succeeded with a squash blossom preparation that well surpassed any from previous experience.

STUFFED SQUASH BLOSSOMS

7 squash blossoms
3 tablespoons feta cheese
1 tablespoon cream
1 1/2 tablespoon chopped sun-dried tomatoes
2 teaspoons basil
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup soda water
2 cups vegetable oil

Mix together the feta cheese, cream, sun-dried tomatoes, and basil, then divide into seven portions. Using a grapefruit spoon, stuff one portion into each squash blossom. Gently twist the ends of blossom petals. Whisk soda water into flour to produce a batter, adding additional soda water as necessary. Gently batter the blossoms and refrigerate for an hour. Heat oil to 350 Fahrenheit in a small saucepan. Add blossoms, in batches, if necessary, allowing about 1 1/2 minutes per blossom or whatever is necessary for them to brown lightly. Remove with a slotted spoon to drain on paper towels.