Tempura Battered Pumpkin Blossoms

By kathryns

look for the blooms without the female bump behind the blossom. Keep them in a closed brown paper bag or zipper lock bag with a slightly damp paper towel. It’s best to pick pumpkin or squash blossoms early in the day, before they close up for their afternoon naps.To clean the blossoms, rinse them off very lightly with water, and check for signs of critters or mildew inside. Pinch and pull out the stamen.

Ingredients

• Filling:
• 1/2 cup ricotta (lowfat is fine)
• 1/2 c goat cheese
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest (about a 1/2 lemon’s worth)
• Pinch salt
• A couple turns of freshly cracked black pepper
• 1/4 cup loosely packed basil leaves, thinly sliced (chiffonade)
• 1/2 teaspoon chopped chives
• Batter:
• 1/3 cup rice flour (look in the Latin foods section of the market)
• 1/3 cup all purpose flour
• Pinch of salt
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 cup seltzer
• One dozen fresh, organic pumpkin blossoms
• Vegetable or canola oil for frying
• Lemony mayo
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise mixed with juice of 1/2 lemon

Preparation

Step 1

1. Make the mayo first. Either Homemade, or jazz up good-quality storebought with a squeeze of lemon juice. Keep in refrigerator while cooking the pumpkin flowers.

2. Mix up the filling: In a medium bowl, combine ricotta, goat cheese, lemon zest, basil and chives. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

3. Using a baby feeding spoon and a fair amount of patience, place about a tablespoon of filling in each blossom. If the bloom is tightened, use a paring knife to cut a slit along the side. Fold the petals over the filling.

4. Set up a frying station. Fill a Dutch oven with 2 inches of canola oil and set over medium-high heat. In a medium bowl, stir together rice flour, all-purpose flour, salt and egg yolk. Whisk in seltzer. Adjust the batter consistency to your liking by adding either a bit more flour or a bit more seltzer – I like the batter on the thin side.

5. Oil is ready when a test dribble of batter bubbles to the surface. Using the stem as a hand-hold, dip each stuffed blossom in the batter then place gently into the bubbling oil. These cook very quickly – about 3 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels and serve with lemony mayo on the side.