Culinary Blossoms: Eat Your Flowers

CUBL

EAT Y

by Callah Racine Teresa Johnson photos

88CT FOOD & FARM / SUMMER 2019

LINARYOSSOMS:

OUR FLOWERS

Flowers are the universal symbol of happiness and summertime. Can you name an occasion where a bountiful bouquet of flowers aren’t a welcome sight? Imagine a big, airy arrangement placed in the center of the table for everyone to gather around, talk and share a meal together. Now imagine plucking a cute little flower from that arrangement - and floating it on your cocktail, or spreading petals over a bowl of fresh greens.

Edible flowers are an adorable and striking way to add color, texture and, yes, even flavor to dishes, drinks, and desserts. If you commit to “no-spray” gardening, growing your own edible flowers is a breeze and the options are endless. You might even have some plants already growing in your garden that produce fantastic edible flowers (I’m looking at you, squash blossoms).

Here are a few (ok, several) of my favorite edible blooms to grow - and ways to use them.

Viola is the best seller on our farm (tinyacrefarm.com). We grow and pick more viola than anything else. They love the cooler weather, thrive in early spring and late autumn. They are easy to grow from seed and come in a rainbow of colors, mild in flavor with a slight wintergreen taste. Violas have little smiling faces on their petals and they look great on anything, especially on top of a cocktail’s egg white foam.

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90CT FOOD & FARM / SUMMER 2019

“IMAGINE PLUCKING A CUTE

LITTLE FLOWER

FROM THAT ARRANGEMENT - AND FLOATING IT ON YOUR

COCKTAIL,

OR SPREADING PETALS OVER A BOWL OF FRESH GREENS.

Nasturtium is spicy, colorful and fragrant. A heat lover that is incredibly easy to grow from seed, they will thrive through the heat of the summer and don’t even mind a little drought. Add them to anything you’d want a little kick in; we love the blooms wrapped in fresh spring rolls. The greens and stems are more spicy and less sweet, a perfect addition to the toppings on a Bloody Mary.

Borage produces the cutest bite-sized blue flowers in abundance and they taste just like cucumbers. Bonus: it’s another heat lover that’s easy to grow from seed. Borage adds so much fun color to dishes. We like to keep it simple and sprinkle them over salads with bright orange calendula petals.

Squash, or zucchini, blossoms are popular in Mexican cuisine and our favorite thing to deep fry, stuffed with herbed goat cheese and ricotta. Late summer produces a bumper crop of zucchini and, better yet, of zucchini blossoms. These flowers are fragile, so pick them early in the morning just as they begin to open. They have a mild squash taste and a soft pillowy texture. You can stuff and fry or bake them, press them into a quesadilla or fold into an omelet.

Herb flowers are the ultimate flavor component. If you hold off on cutting the leaves from some of your herb plants, you are rewarded with beautiful and flavorpacked flowers that taste like an intense version of the mother plant. Common culinary herbs like sage, rosemary, basil and cilantro produce purple, pink, red and white blooms that can be added to hot dishes right before serving, for a visual and aromatic treat.

”

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“

EDIBLE FLOWERS A AND STRIKING WAY TO

AND,

EVEN FLAVOR TO AND DES

”

92CT FOOD & FARM / SUMMER 2019

RE AN ADORABLE ADD COLOR, TEXTURE

YES,

DISHES, DRINKS, SERTS.

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94CT FOOD & FARM / SUMMER 2019

A few larger flowers have a stiff, bitter base and therefore shouldn’t be eaten whole but rather have the tender petals plucked from the base and used as edible confetti. Calendula, bachelor buttons, marigold, sweet William, sunflowers and dahlias are just a few of the varieties you could make confetti from. Flower confetti looks fantastic on a cake, against white frosting or sprinkled over a greens or fruit salad. My three-year-old niece even demanded an edible flower cake for her birthday this year (she know’s what’s up).

Johnnyseeds.com is a great source for edible flower seed and has a page dedicated to many different varieties. If you aren’t interested in growing your own, many farmer’s market vendors have edible flowers available. If they don’t bring any to market, ask them about it; they likely have some available on their farm.

You can find our edible flowers on the menu weekly at Sift Bake Shop (siftbakeshopmystic.com) in Mystic, Millwright’s (millwrightsrestaurant.com) in Simsbury, and Heirloom Market (heirloommkt.com) in Old Wethersfield, just to name a few.

Our farm only supplies edible flowers wholesale to Connecticut restaurants, bakeries and bars. If you’re interested in finding out more about what we have to offer for wholesale, Sardilli Produce (sardilliproduce.com) supplies our edible flowers to all of Connecticut.

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“ VIOLAS HAVE

LITTLE SMILING FACES

ON THEIR PETALS

96CT FOOD & FARM / SUMMER 2019

AND THEY LOOK GREAT ON ANYTHING, ESPECIALLY ON TOP OF A COCKTAIL’S EGG WHITE FOAM.”

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“

FLOWER CONFETTI LOOKS FANTASTIC ON A CAKE, AGAINST WHITE FROSTING OR SPRINKLED OVER A GREENS OR FRUIT SALAD.”

98CT FOOD & FARM / SUMMER 2019

RICOTTA STUFFED

SQUASH BLOSSOMS

WITH TOMATO SAUCE DIP

INGREDIENTSFor tomato sauce:

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 1/2 pounds plum tomatoes, finely chopped

• 1/2 cup water

• 1/2 teaspoon sugar

For squash blossoms:

• 1 cup whole-milk ricotta (preferably fresh)

• 1 large egg yolk

• 2 tbsp finely chives

• 2 tbsp finely chopped basil

• 1/2 cup grated parmesan, divided in two

• 1/4 cup goat cheese

• 12 to 16 large zucchini squash blossoms

• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

• 3/4 cup chilled seltzer or club soda

• 3 cups vegetable oil, for frying

PREPARATION

Make tomato sauce: Cook garlic and red pepper flakes in oil in a 2-quarts heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring, until garlic is golden, about 30 seconds. Add tomatoes, water, sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 25 to 30 minutes.

Prepare squash blossoms: Stir together ricotta, yolk, basil, chives, ¼ cup parmesan, ¼ cup goat cheese and 1/8 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Carefully open each blossom and fill with about 2 rounded teaspoons ricotta filling, gently twisting end of blossom to enclose filling. (You may have filling left over.)

Whisk together flour, remaining ¼ cup parmesan, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and seltzer in a small bowl.

Heat 1/2 inch oil to 375°F in a 10-inch heavy skillet. Meanwhile, dip half of blossoms in batter to thinly coat. Fry coated blossoms, turning once, until golden, 1 to 2 minutes total. Transfer with tongs to paper towels to drain. Coat and fry remaining blossoms. (Return oil to 375°F between batches.) Season with salt. Serve with tomato sauce.

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