I'm really amazed by all of the things I don't know. Several times a week, I tend to respond to questions from the peanut gallery by saying, "How do I know? I'm a Mommy and mommies know everything." Well, don't tell my kids but if I know anything, it's that I've still a lot to learn. As a matter of fact, I'm learning new things everyday. For example: our garden. I've been having so much fun tending it and I've been learning loads to boot.
We harvested some of our zephyr squash for the first time yesterday. I was under the impression we needed to leave it until it grew quite large but we were already losing some of the smaller ones. I googled it...again, Google is my friend, and learned you should pluck them when they're between 4-6 inches. What?? So, we plucked and then we sprinkled on a little olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and some salt and pepper, and put them on the grill. It was really delicious, more so, I'm sure because we grew them ourselves. Anna came along and helped me snip about 8 from the stem.
We also ended up with one ripe strawberry and a beautiful but small green bell pepper that had fallen to the ground. That's the second one to fall without a clear reason. They're almost too small and too cute to eat.
For a while I was worried we weren't going to have any squash. I read an article about a woman whose garden was failing due to the lack of bees in her area. I learned that there are male and female squash blossoms. The male has only one stamen while the female flower has multiple stamens.
The solution for the aforementioned lady was to take a bit of pollen from the male and place it onto the female flower. Before she knew it...voila, squash. Hand pollination wasn't necessary for us but watching the squash grow and the beautiful flowers bloom has made me crave stuffed squash blossoms. When we lived in Greece many years ago now, one of our sweet friends used to make this wonderful dish. A few weeks ago, I asked her for the recipe. She sent it along with a picture of one of her latest batches. If you have a moment and blossoms from your own garden or your local farmers' market, you should give this recipe a try. It's so, so, so good.
From what I've read about squash, I guess it's uniquely American and was revered by the Ancient Native Americans as the "apple of god". The seeds were thought to increase fertility if plants were planted near your home. We certainly don't need any increased fertility here but it's awfully interesting nonetheless. Even the name "squash" is an abbreviation of the word "askutasquash" from the Narragansett Indian language. The variety we planted is known as zephyr squash and has a distinctive green band at the bottom. We received a bunch in one of our shares from our organic farmer in Wheatland and fell in love. He's also the person who introduced us to lemon cucumbers.....absolutely the way a cucumber should taste....d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s. We have three hills of cucumbers planted as well. I could go on but without further ado, here's my friend Maria's recipe. Let me know if you try it and what you think!!
Stuffed Squash Blossoms (courtesy of Maria Marouli)
Here is a simple one:
for 12 flowers you need
12 soup spoons rice
3 soup spoons olive oil
mint or any other you may like
3 medium onions
tomatoes
you saute onions with oil
you add the rice
you saute for about 5 min
and then you add the mint or parsley and the tomatoes
and then you start fill the flowers
you can also fill tomatoes peppers egplants
when you cook make sure you put a plate over them
to keep them in a good look
good luck
For more cooking details, I found these directions online by searching for Greek stuffed Squash Blossoms (most recipes want you to fry them but these are cooked like dolmades).
Preparation:
Rinse the zucchini blossoms individually, removing any external green leaves and internal pistil and stamen, using a sharp knife. Take care not to tear the blossoms. Once rinsed, place the bottom of each blossom into the opening of another to prevent from closing, and set aside to drain thoroughly. Pat dry before using.
Note: The pistil and stamen do not need to be removed, but most Greek cooks do take them out.
In a mixing bowl, combine rice, onion, tomatoes, parsley, mint, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste. Add 1-2 teaspoons of olive oil to help bind and mix thoroughly.
Carefully fill each blossom with 1 teaspoon of the mixture. Fold the open end of the blossom inward and turn underneath, and place in a wide pot or deep skillet. Continue until all blossoms are filled, and placed snugly in a single layer in the pot.
Add 1 cup of water and 1/4 cup of olive oil.
Bring to a boil and cook over medium heat for 30 minutes.
Meatless stuffed zucchini blossoms are served at room temperature.
