Once upon a Farmer's Market...{Squash Blossom Quesadillas}

The newest local farmer's market, Wolf Ranch Farmer's Market, had its second weekend & my son and I went out yesterday to check it out. I do enjoy buying seasonal local produce as often as I can. The freshness of the produce just can't be beat. It is that very freshness that makes items available at the farmer's market that you'd never see at your local chain supermarket, or even at the fraunchy specialty grocer. As we looked at the various vendors, I spied something at the stall belonging to Two Happy Children farm that I've been wanting to get my hands on for quite some time - squash blossoms. 

 I first saw them used on some TV cooking show (which one it was I can't recall). On that show, the blossoms were stuffed with a cheesy mixture, lightly battered and then fried up into what looked to be a delicious light morsel. Upon further research, I've found that squash blossoms are abundant in Mexico, and therefore, a common ingredient of the cooking of Mexico. They are easily obtained, very inexpensively, at markets, and thus, are easily used in great quantities in sautes and soups. Mostly, they are wilted with fried onion and chiles and then used as a main component to a quesadilla.  Typically, in Mexico, the blossoms found at the market are the male blossoms meaning they will never set a fruit. However, the ones that I saw (and purchased) at the farmer's market this weekend were the female flower as they were attached to fairly small yellow squash. My original intent was to stuff them, but as life sometimes is wont to do; time got away from me. So, instead, a quesadilla preparation seemed feasible and sounded delicious.

In order to prepare the blossoms for use, you must first clean them. Break off the stem (unless you do want to stuff them and then it would make for a handy handle.), then pull off the spiky sepals on the outside of the flower (males only as with females you'll find a small squash there instead). Finally, wiggle your way into the center of the blossom and remove the pistil and discard it. Your blossoms are now ready to use - in the following delicious quesadilla or however you choose.

Quesadilla de Flor de Calabaza (inspired by Rick Bayless)

• 15 or so squash blossoms
• 1/4 C chopped sweet onion
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 8 corn tortillas
• 1 C shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
• oil to coat pan

1. Clean squash blossoms as listed above. Chop and set aside. In a heavy skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until transparent (about 5 minutes). Add squash blossoms and reduce heat to low. Cook until mixture is fairly dry (about 10 minutes or so). 
2. On a large flat griddle (or comal) or a large skillet heated to medium, place 4 corn tortillas. Spread squash mixture over them evenly. Top with shredded cheese and cover with another corn tortilla to create 4 quesadillas. Cook for a bit until the bottom is turning golden and the cheese begins to melt. Use a large spatula or flipper to flip quesadilla and cook on the other side (another 2 minutes or so). Remove to serving platter and cut into fourths. Serve warm with fresh tomato salsa. (I whipped up a quick one of 4 chopped tomatoes, 1/4 of an onion and a couple of chiles blended with my immersion blender.)

These were so tasty. The griddled corn tortillas had such a sweetness and slight crunch offset by the melty goodness of the cheese. The entire thing accented with the herbal (not at all floral) flavor of the blossoms made for a delicious, light dinner. They would work well as an appetizer as well - or add a side of the sauteed baby squash for a wonderful early Summer meal. Next time that you're in the mood to experiment, squash blossoms are a unique but easy to manage ingredient to try.

Happy Cooking!

sld

Fresh, Seasonal, Local Produce

From the TGK Mailbag, Lisa comments that she would like more information about the CSA that I've mentioned

So here's the deal, we try to eat as much fresh, local seasonal produce as we can. In order to make that happen, there are a few choices.

1. Grow it yourself - which, to some extent, we do by planting a tomato garden and other asst. vegetables (to varying degrees of success) Because our success depends on a wide variety of factors some fully within our control and others not so much, we also source produce from much more expert sources.
2. Farmer's Markets - the Austin area has quite a few choices for weekly farmer's markets. Most have rules about who can sell and what they sell at these markets. It is important to ask questions of the farmers/vendors to understand if they are an actual producer or if they just happen to be selling some corn they picked up from "a guy down South" or such. The various markets happen on a variety of days and times throughout the area and if you're close to a location, then you're lucky. If not, it can take some planning to make sure to fit it into your weekly schedule. 
3. CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) - there is a lot of variance in what this model looks like depending upon the guidelines set up by the particular farmer. Basically, though, it works like this: a farmer offers a certain number of "shares" to the public. Typically,  the share consists of a box of vegetables, but other farm products may be included. Interested consumers purchase a share (aka a "membership" or a "subscription") and in return receive a box (bag, basket) of seasonal produce each week (or biweekly) throughout the farming season. The one to which we subscribe, Johnson's Backyard Garden, allows a lot of flexibility re: the length of the term you sign up for and allows you to access an online schedule tool to postpone your share delivery etc. 

By joining a CSA, we have found that the quality of the produce is excellent and lasts so much longer than the stuff we purchase at the grocery store. Additionally, because the box contents depend upon what is being grown at that point in time, it has become sort of a challenge to use things that we've never before eaten (Your very own home version of the show "Chopped") We also particularly love that we're supporting the local economy at a very basic level. We've found that for our family, biweekly pick-ups are perfect. On occasion we'll supplement with a run to the farmer's market to pick up extra items that we'd like to have more of *and* for the past 2 years, I've made a large bulk purchase of canning tomatoes to do just that - put up are own canned tomatoes for use in the "off-season" 

I'd highly recommend you try it out for a few weeks and see if it makes a difference in what your family eats. I am a firm believer that the better you stock your home pantry and fridge, the better you'll eat. Sure, it takes a bit of planning to make sure you actually use all of the vegetables that you receive, but the reward is well worth it. If you do sign up with a CSA and you get something in your share that you have no clue how to use, just remember, I'm always up for a food challenge - send me a message and I'll pull together some ideas for using the item!

Happy Cooking!

sld