Tempura Mushroom Stuffed Zucchini Blossoms Recipes

STUFFED ZUCCHINI BLOSSOMS

Steps:

• mix all the ingredients together and place in small pastry bag, or a ziplock bag with an end snipped off.
• open one end of the blossom gently and squeeze a small amount of cheese into the blossom. Due not overfill, you want enough to almost fill the blossom not to make it bulge.
• Refrigerate the blossoms for about 10-15 minutes while you get the egg mixture together.
• Lightly beat the eggs and add in milk, flour, cheese, and basil. Mix well. Egg Mixture should be about pancake mix thickness. If the mix is too thick the egg coating will be to thick and if its too thin it will run off.
• Heat a large sauté pan and then add about 1/4 inch of cooking oil to the pan.
• Dredge Zucchini Blossom in egg mixture, shed any excess egg and place into hot oil, continue the process till you fill the pan.
• Fry each side of the Blossom until golden brown, about two minutes on each side, the second side may cook faster, keep an eye on them.
• Place finished blossom on paper towels to drain off any excess oil.
• Place blossoms on serving tray and season with grated Romano cheese, sea salt and black pepper.

FRIED CHEESE-STUFFED ZUCCHINI BLOSSOMS

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, water and salt until smooth. Set aside.
• In a small bowl combine the goat cheese, cream cheese, heavy cream, basil, and green onion. Mix until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Spoon 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons filling into each blossom. Close the blossoms and gently twist the petals to seal.
• In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan, pour enough oil to fill the pan about a third of the way. Heat over medium heat until a deep-frying thermometer inserted in the oil reaches 350 degrees F. (If you don't have a thermometer a cube of bread will brown in about 1 minute.) Dip the stuffed zucchini blossoms in the batter and allow any excess batter to drip off. Fry for 1 to 2 minutes, turning occasionally, until golden brown. Allow the cooked blossoms to drain on paper towels.
• Season with salt and serve with your favorite marinara sauce or vinaigrette.

ZUCCHINI TEMPURA

Steps:

• 1. ZUCCHINI - Slice the zucchini into strips about 2 inches long and 1/2 inch wide. Note: thinner zucchini strips cook faster than thicker ones; think French fries rather than potato wedges.
• 2. DIPPING SAUCE - In a small bowl whisk together the soy sauce, ginger, sugar, garlic and chili sauce. Adjust seasoning to taste. Set aside.
• 3. TEMPURA - Thoroughly whisk flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. When the oil reaches 350°F , whisk in enough cold seltzer water (or cold tap water) to make the batter the consistency of heavy cream. NOTE: If you don't have a candy thermometer, heat the oil until it starts to move. Dip a wooden chopstick into the oil. If it bubbles, the oil is hot enough.
• 4. Dip the zucchini in the tempura batter and gently add to the oil. Fry until golden and cooked through, about 5 and 7 minutes but will vary with thickness of the zucchini slice and oil temperature. The oil's temperature will drop when you add the battered vegetables, so allow the oil to heat back up between batches. As soon as the zucchini slices are golden, remove them from the oil with a slotted spoon. Place on several layers of paper towel layers to drain.
• 5. They're best served while still hot. Serve with the dipping sauce.

STUFFED ZUCCHINI BLOSSOMS

Steps:

• Prepare the zucchini blossoms for stuffing by gently opening the leaves and pinching out the stamen inside each flower. Set the blossoms aside.
• For the filling, combine the ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, basil, lemon zest and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl and stir to combine. Transfer to a sandwich-size resealable plastic bag and snip a small corner from one point at the bottom.
• Open the leaves of a blossom and pipe in about 1 tablespoon of filling (don't overfill). Gently twist the top of the blossom to enclose the filling. Repeat with the remaining zucchini blossoms and filling.
• Pour about 1 inch of vegetable oil in a large nonstick skillet and heat to 360 degrees F. (If you don't have an oil thermometer, you'll know the oil is ready if you drop in a scrap of bread and it sizzles on contact and begins to brown after a few seconds.) Line a baking sheet with paper towels.
• For the batter, whisk the flour, baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. Whisk in the seltzer to make a smooth batter.
• When the oil is ready, dip the zucchini flowers in the batter one at a time, letting excess batter drip back into the bowl. Add as many as will fit in the skillet without crowding. Fry, turning once, until the batter is light, crisp and golden, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove with a slotted spoon to the lined baking sheet to drain and repeat with the remaining blossoms.
• Serve warm with marinara for dipping.

VEGETABLE TEMPURA

Steps:

• Add all the flour to a bowl. With the handle of a spoon, or a chopstick, mix, and stir in the ice-cold water until the mixture is slightly thicker than buttermilk consistency. Make a point of not mixing thoroughly, as tempura is renowned for lumps of flour.
• Dip sliced vegetables (zucchini, onions, eggplants, carrots, bell peppers, sweet potatoes, string beans, broccoli, wild mushrooms, fresh herbs, and bok choy) any vegetables will work but these are the most commonly used) into the batter mixture and shake off any excess.
• Deep fry vegetables in a wok or deep fat fryer (you can use a frying pan if you do not have anything else, you just need about 7cm/3 inches of clean oil) at 200C/400F/Gas 6 until the batter is light golden in color and crisp. (Any large amounts of hot oil in a kitchen, especially in woks which are not always that sturdy, scare me, please be careful and do not leave the pan unattended.) Turn the vegetables at intervals to ensure that both sides are cooked equally and then fish them out with a slotted spoon, shaking off any excess oil. Place them on kitchen paper towels and eat as soon as possible. The reason that I keep going on about eating them so quickly is because as your hot cooked vegetables cool down inside the batter they begin to steam, making them less crisp as time goes on. Good tempura should be crispy and is one of those things that should be made and cooked quickly and eaten straight away.
• Pour the rice wine vinegar into a small bowl. Add the sugar and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Taste for sweetness. Add cilantro, chile, and garlic and mix well. Season with salt and pepper and allow to sit for 10 minutes to 1 hour, for flavors to combine.;

SHRIMP FILLED ZUCCHINI BLOSSOMS

Steps:

• Rinse the blossoms under cold running water gently and dry on paper towels.
• Combine the chopped raw shrimp with the shallots and tarragon. In a separate bowl combine the cream with the French bread and the salt and pepper and, using the back of a spoon or your fingers, mix until pasty.
• Mix this bread paste with the shrimp and combine well.
• Split the flowers open using a paring knife, insert a teaspoon of the shrimp paste inside, and fold the flower closed.
• Heat the oil over medium heat in a large saute pan. Mix the flour and water together with a fork and add more flour if the batter is looser than heavy cream.
• Dip each flower into the batter and then fry in the hot oil until crisp and golden.
• Serve immediately.

STUFFED MUSHROOM TEMPURA

Steps:

• Soften shiitake mushrooms in water for 45 minutes. Squeeze the water out with your hands and pat dry. Remove stems and discard them.
• Wash shrimp, remove shells, devein, and chop into small pieces. Add salt, chopped green onions, and seasonings. Mix well.
• Dust the inside of one mushroom with cornstarch and put 1/4 of the shrimp mixture on top. Dust the inside of another mushroom and put it on top of the filled mushroom. Continue to make four mushroom sandwiches.
• Mix the batter ingredients.
• Dust each mushroom sandwich with flour, plunge into batter, and deep fry in heated oil over medium heat until batter turns slightly golden. Serve hot with tempura dipping sauce of your choice.