fried baby courgette flowers

Zucchini flowers can have a baby zucchini attached, While others are just the male flower of the plant and just have a stem attached instead of the zuchini. I must admit, you can't beat freshly picked courgette flowers, crisply fried in batter, great on a antipasto platter.

what you need
1 cup self-raising flour
1 cup beer
Sea salt
1 egg white, whisked
8 baby courgettes (zucchini) with flowers
Vegetable oil for frying
Sea salt
2 red chiles, finely chopped, seeds removed A handful of fresh mint leaves, finely sliced
A drizzle of good quality herb vinegar

what to do
Mix the first 3 ingredients for the batter together in a bowl. Whisk the egg whites until firm and fold into the batter.
Heat oil for deep frying to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Dip each courgette with its flower into the batter, and fry in the oil until crispy and golden brown. Drain them on kitchen paper, then place them on a serving plate, sprinkle with salt, chiles and mint, and drizzle with vinegar.

If you want to go one step further and want something really special why not stuff the flowers first, just mix 80g (4oz) creamy goats cheese (or ricotta if you prefer), 1 pinch of fresh thyme leaves, 1 small clove garlic and crushed black pepper. then dip in the batter and fry.

This recipes works the same for pumpkin blossoms