Stuffed Pumpkin Flowers: In addition to all the great stuff I've already found at the Buford Highway Farmers Market, I've also been on a quest for something else there that I wasn't even sure if I'd find: squash blossoms. Me and the GF have been hunting them after finding an awesome-sounding recipe in her Mesa Grill cookbook, which involve stuffing them with ricotta cheese, then deep-frying. Apparently, they're only available seasonally, so when she got an email this morning from the BHFM saying they were in stock, we hustled down there to get some.
When we arrived at the market, what we found was something a bit different, but definitely usable: pumpkin flowers. They looked just like squash blossoms, and after some quick iPhone research, we discovered that they could be swapped for squash blossoms in most recipes. There was only one package left, so we hastily grabbed it.
The recipe basically required stuffing the inside of the flowers with a mix of ricotta and cotija cheese, basil, and roasted corn. Once we got them stuffed, we coated them in a rice flour batter, then deep-fried. I know the deep-frying trend is out of control right now, but whatever - these looked good.
Once we removed them from the oil, we trimmed the stems, then drizzled them with a sweet-hot yellow pepper vinaigrette that we had prepared beforehand. My first bite was really good, but the texture of the flower was hard to describe. It was sort of spongy, without much flavor on its own, and it struck me as more of a vessel to hold the delicious filling than anything else. I didn't try them alone, so maybe that was a mistake.
After doing some research, it seems that pumpkin flowers are the same as zucchini blossoms and squash blossoms. If you've never tried edible flowers, definitely try this recipe if you can find it.
Chris..squash/etc flowers can also be just lightly battered and deep fried. THey are crunchy and good. Especially when you have a pile of squash and need a rest from more flowers producing even more squash!
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