Monday 19 April 2010

Courgette Flowers with Smoked Anchovy Vinaigrette, Red Onion, Tarragon and Lemon Salad



I really adore courgette flowers. It probably has a lot to do with their lightness of flavour, that delicate courgette green-ness, and their saffron coloured petals that make me think they are food of the gods. I often will cook these as a tempura, doused in flour and then into a batter and deep fried until crisp and golden. I have also stuffed them with mint and Goat's cheese, and also with beaten egg whites and brown shrimps. This time I decided to cook these nude in a little olive oil, until al dente and the petals just caramelised. I finished these with a smoked anchovy and blood orange (my ingredient of the week it seems) vinaigrette, and a fresh, pungent salad of red onion, tarragon and lemon.


Ingredients
Courgette Flowers
Smoked Anchovies
Juice and zest of half a Blood Orange
Olive Oil
Capers
Pinch of Sugar
Red Onion
Tarragon
Lemon zest and juice

2 comments:

aforkfulofspaghetti said...

The vinaigrette sounds great - the combination of anchovies, blood orange, capers, and onion, in particular, yells piquant to the max!

As a huge fan of courgette flowers, I'm going to have to try this. Where do you get yours from at this time of year?

Flowers said...

Wow...these courgette flowers look awesome. I have never seen anything like it. Keep on posting.