Cotton Hill Road is more than just your average thoroughfare. Schoharie County Route 66 is a steep and winding climb, treacherous in the winter; the location of thousands of acres of state forest; home to a hardscrabble mix of Sloughters and newcomers, with some rarely-seen weekenders; and these days, quite a culinary destination. We have our resident brewer (OK, the brewery is in town, but we were the beneficiaries of many a practice batch), Justin at Green Wolf Brewery, we the cheesemakers, and wonderful organic vegetables at The Farm on Cotton Hill. Jim and Greg are the farmers, and Jim and I got together yesterday to celebrate the end of summer by stuffing cheese into flowers and frying them.
I love eating flowers whenever possible, but somehow I never tasted squash blossoms. Now I am hooked! Try them! Here's what you do:
1. Harvest the flowers in the middle of a sunny day, when they are open. Use them right away, or keep them in a cool place to use later.
2. Gather your ingredients: flour and a couple eggs for dredging, some good soft fresh goat cheese and anchovies for stuffing, and olive oil for frying.
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| Flowers! We will eat you! |
3. Using a small spoon, stuff a tablespoon of goat cheese into each blossom, followed by an anchovy. Twist the top of the blossom closed.
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| Jim stuffing while I drink wine, eat olives, and take pictures |
4. Dredge each stuffed blossom in flour, then egg, then flour again. Arrange on a plate or tray, and get that oil nice and hot in your frying pan.
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| Please note the mise-en-place. Clearly he's done this before. |
5. Fry a few blossoms at a time in hot oil, flipping them so that they get golden brown on every side. Don't overcrowd the pan.
6. Wait for them to cool a tiny bit before you eat them, you savage!
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| Delicious organic summer bounty |
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