I Am a Zucchini Flower Frying Machine

Just a couple of weeks ago, I'd never eaten a zucchini flower. I saw recipes for them all the time, but I'd never actually had one. Then I looked at our garden and spotted a whole bunch of these bad boys:

Today, there are about a thousand more where those came from.

Anyway, I realized I needed to figure out something to do with the flowers, pronto. Google lead me to this blogger, who said what I wanted to hear: less is more. Zucchini flowers are pretty great on when they're fried with very simple ingredients, so there's no need to go crazy.

I played around a little with the recipe and ended up with a simple process:

1. Place a frying pan over medium-high heat and cover the bottom with olive oil.
2. Put about 1/2 cup of flour in a shallow bowl.
3. Add club soda/selzer while whisking with a fork to combine. Stop when you've got a creamy consistency - you'll probably need just a little more liquid than you have flour.
4. Stir chopped fresh chives into the batter.
5. Holding a zucchini flower by its stem, dredge in the batter to lightly cover.
6. The oil should be hot enough that it sputters when you drop water in it. Place the flower in the hot oil and repeat for the rest of the flowers:

7. Cook until lightly browned on one side (about a minute). Carefully flip, then repeat on the other side.
8. Place on a paper towel to drain and sprinkle with sea salt.
9. Eat right away!

I've made them a couple times now and they're fantastic. They take next to no time to cook, require only simple ingredients, and the finished product is airy and really kind of special.

Happy summer!