Look what I found

My Sunday usually begins far to early, by other people's standards, with a visit around 7am to my local farmer's markets.  Some would say that even at 7am I've missed the best of the produce.  To them I say: it's Sunday, a day of rest and that's the earliest I'm prepared to get up!  I always keep a look out for interesting and hard to get items as I wander around picking up my usual fruit, vegetables, coffee and breakfast (usually a pork bun from XO or a pain au chocolat from French Sin or both - maybe I need a market's breakfast post??).

When I was on holidays in Italy recently, zucchini flowers were available cheaply everywhere - markets and supermarkets alike.  Now back at home they are very hard to find (unless I grab them from the school garden when we have zucchinis on the go, which I haven't yet, so don't worry).  Zucchini are coming into season now, so you would think that for every stall with them, someone would think about boxing up the flowers too.  And maybe they do every week at the markets but they're all gone by my late arrival at 7am.  Today I found some, right at the back of a small stall and they were cutely still attached to the tiny zucchini.  In my head I thought I'm not going to pay more than $5 and I was in luck as they were $5, so I pounced on them!

The recipe for this batter is in my last blog post and worked out beautifully.  I only made a half batch, as I only had 6 flowers and several were quite small.  With that half batch of batter, I still used the whole egg (because what are you going to do with half an egg?) and also a few extra splashes of mineral water to loosen it up.  This batter would be suitable for any vegetables, as it's very similar to a tempura batter.  Next time I'll also put bigger pieces of mozarella inside the flower and possibly experiment with other stuffing.  This tasty dish is not an every day or even an every week food, but a once a year perhaps treat when you can find the flowers, so keep an eye out!

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Mucho Mangia

I've just returned from 3.5 weeks tripping around Italy, where I walked, ate, drank, walked, ate, drank, walked, ate, drank - you get the picture.  For a week I did a cooking school at Casa Gregorio.  What a magic experience that was.  From that week there are so many food ideas and recipes to share that if I don't start now I just never might.  The biggest thing I learnt is that the Australian and American versions of Italian cooking use a lot more garlic, onion and pepper than the Italians do.  So cut it back if you can and enjoy the flavours of the real ingredients in each dish!

I'll start with four traditional antipasto ideas for you.

Bruschetta di pomodoro (Tomato bruschetta)
2 - 3 vine-ripened tomatoes
pinch or two of salt
a few basil leaves, torn/shredded into small pieces
80mL (1/3 cup) extra virgin olive oil
4 slices rustic Italian bread
1 garlic clove

1. Cut tomatoes into small pieces and place in a small bowl (the seeds too).
2. Add a pinch of salt and the basil, then mix.
3. Pour olive oil over the tomatoes and mix.  Allow tomatoes to sit for half an hour or so.
4. Meanwhile, slice and lightly toast the bread.  Then rub it with a garlic clove.
5. Spoon tomatoes onto bread slices, garnish with more basil and drizzle with remaining juice from the tomatoes.  You can allow them to sit for 10 minutes or so, which will mean the juice will start to soak into the bread.  Delicious!

 Fiori di Zucca (Zucchini flowers)
120g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 egg
125mL cold sparkling mineral water
120g mozarella cheese
5 anchovy fillets, cut in half crosswise (optional)
10 zucchini flowers
Vegetable oil (for frying)

1. In a small bowl mix dry ingredients.  Add egg and mineral water.  Gently whisk until just combined.
2. Cut mozarella into small stick (2.5cm x 0.5cm). If using anchovies, pat them dry with paper towel.
3. In a deep fry pan, pour in oil to a depth of 3cm and heat until batter sizzles when dropped into oil.
4. While oil is heating, gently spread open the petals of the flower and pinch out the filaments inside.  
5. Insert a mozarella stick and anchovy half into each flower and press/fold the petals closed.
6. One at a time, dip flowers into batter, turning to completely coat. Let excess batter drip off.
7. Working with a few at a time, slip battered flowers into hot oil and fry until golden brown on all sides - about 4 minutes.
8. Using tongs or a slotted spoon transfer to paper towel lined dish to drain.  
9. Season with salt and serve immediately.

Caprese Salad
Tomatoes (the best you can find)
Fresh Mozarella (buffalo mozarella if you can find some)
Basil leaves, torn
Salt and Pepper
Extra virgin olive oil

1. Thickly slice tomatoes and lay on a plate. Sprinkle with some freshly cracked pepper and a little bit of salt.
2. Thickly slice mozarella and lay a piece on top of each slice of tomato.
3. Scatter torn basil over the top.  Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.  
4. Serve with balsamic vinegar as an accompaniment.

Scamorza e Prosciutto (Smoked Mozarella and Prosciutto)
Rustic Italian bread sliced
Smoked mozarella, slices or grated
Prosciutto

1. Slice the bread into small fingers and lightly toast.  
2. Top each bread finger with cheese then prosciutto.
3. Place in 180C oven for 5 mins or until mozarella is melted. 

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