squash blossoms and sorrow — — It’s been a REALLY rough past few days, so here’s a bit of summer sunshine that I hope encourages a smile (even if temporarily.) Nothing quite says summer quite like a gently fried stuffed squash blossom. In terms of picking squash blossoms it’s important to know what you’re looking for. Female squash blossoms have a small swollen embryonic fruit at their base, that’ll grow into a squash (hopefully) Male squash blossoms are showier and hang out on long skinny stalks all along the plant. Both are edible and DELICIOUS. — — squash blossom prep 6-12 squash blossoms (stamens removed) 3 tbsp cornstarch or tapioca starch 3/4 cup cake flour 3/4 cold cup sparking water 1 tsp paprika 1 tsp kosher salt 2-3 cups grapeseed oil (for frying) — — Macadamia filling 1 cup macadamia nuts (I love using roasted unsalted) 1 lemon, zest and juice 1 tsp white pepper 1 clove garlic 1 tbsp nutritional yeast 1 tsp dijon mustard 3-6 tbsp water (depending on texture you want) 1 tsp kosher salt — — To make the macadamia filing, mix all ingredients in a high speed blender. Prepare oil for frying by heating to 350 degrees. To make squash blossoms, mix together cornstarch, cake flour, cold sparkling water, paprika, and kosher salt. Fill each squash blossom with 1 tbsp (or less depending on size) of macadamia ricotta), I like to twist them shut and dip them in the oil for a few seconds to seal them, AND THEN dip them in the tempura batter, and back into the oil. You don’t need to do it that way, but I think its nice for ensuring they stay closed, and also I LOVE the shapes that come from this method. I served these on top of an herby, chunky, lemony fava bean purée that relied on no recipe, only intuition, and a hefty drizzle of basil/purslane oil! #apartmentmiso #squashblossom #plantbased #herbs #macadmia #ricotta #vibes #herb #delicious #summer