Deep Fried Courgette Flowers

 

We have been on holiday in Cornwall. Well, what passes for a holiday. There is only so much rain one family can withstand. When we went for a walk, Freddie decided to wear a wet suit. We marched up the lane in single file unable to see through the damp wall of sea mist to the person in front. We went on a guided kayaking trip up the River Fowey on a rare sunny day. After two hours on the river, the sky turned black and we found ourselves in the middle of a violent lightning storm. I couldn't see the kayaks in front of us and the suncream that I had optimistically applied to our faces began to run down, stinging our eyes so that we were forced to close our eyes and paddle on blind down the river. An hour later the back-up motor boat found us lost up a creek and towed us home.
So I suppose the few highlights of this year's summer break stand out more sharply. We found rock samphire and marsh samphire which we ate with locally caught mackerel fillets. And the farm where we buy our vegetables gave us courgette flowers which were a first for Freddie and Alex.
I made a light batter with self-raising flour and ice-cold soda water and stuffed the courgette flowers with a little goats cheese and tomato paste, dipped them in the batter which is the consistency of single cream and deep fried them for couple of minutes in some vegetable oil. Alex scored them 9 out of 10 and Freddie gave them a seven. And in a week of relentless damp, eating courgette flowers appears to be a rare highlight.
How do you like to eat your courgette flowers?

We have returned to find more vegetable faces in the inbox and will be announcing a winner in a weeks time. But we need more faces...the more the merrier. And lets face it with the summer we are all having, we all need something to do on a rainy day.