Making Fried Squash Blossoms with Bootin' and Smoked Mozzarella: A Global Cooking Experience
To begin our culinary journey, we need to heat our pan and add oil. This is where the Holy Trinity comes in – onions, bell peppers, and celery – which are staples in most Cajun Creole Louisiana cooking. We'll also add a little salt, pepper, and Creole season to give it that extra kick of flavor. Next, we'll turn off the heat and let it cool slightly. While we wait, we can prepare our ingredients for the next step. We've cooked gizzards and chicken livers for about an hour to make them tender. We'll chop up a few herbs, including parsley, which is one of my all-time favorites – not only does it add freshness, but it's also edible! We'll roll the chopped herbs onto our fingers to release their oils and then chop them up further.
Now that we have our ingredients ready, let's cook the rice. This jasmine rice has already been cooked, but you can use leftover rice as well if you prefer. We've reserved some of the liquid from cooking the gizzards, which will add flavor to our dish. If your rice is overcooked, you might not need as much liquid. Next, we'll add more Creole seasoning – this isn't a mild dish, so be prepared for a bold flavor. We're also using smoked mozzarella, which will add a rich and creamy element to our fried squash blossoms.
It's time to prepare the squash blossoms! First, we need to create a FL flour mixture that allows us to stuff them without eating the bitter center. To do this, we'll open up the blossom just a little bit and pull out the center. We can use gloves if you prefer – it's not necessary, but it can be helpful. Next, we'll chop up our herbs and add them to the mixture. Now, let's make the batter! This is more like tempura-style batter, so it needs to be light and crispy. We're using all-purpose flour and cornstarch, which will help create that crunch. We've also added Creole seasoning, baking powder, and salt – everything in this batter helps bring out the flavors.
Now it's time to add some liquid to our batter. I'm using cold Seltzer or sparkling water, which will activate the flour when working with cornstarch. This is crucial for creating that crispy texture we want. We'll need to stir everything together until it comes together quickly – just like magic! Once we have our batter ready, let's coat those squash blossoms evenly with a little bit of cornstarch. This will help them stick together and prevent them from falling apart during frying.
With our batter-coated squash blossoms ready, we can now heat up the oil in a deep pan at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Once the oil is hot, we'll gently place the blossoms in and let them cook for about three minutes on each side – until they're golden brown and crispy. This is the moment of truth! We'll sprinkle our fried squash blossoms with just a touch of salt, honey, and savory flavors to bring out that perfect balance of sweetness and savory goodness.
As we take our first bite of these crispy, cheesy goodness, you can't help but wonder – what's so special about these fried squash blossoms? The answer lies in the combination of flavors and textures. Each bite transports us to a world of global cuisine, where East meets West and flavors blend together in perfect harmony. This isn't just a dish; it's an experience that will leave you craving for more.
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enlet's make a fried Squash Blossom with boot in and smoked mozzarella Global cooking at its best so we're going to heat our pan then we're going to add our oil you'll see that oil kind of Ripple across that's good in most Cajun Creole Louisiana cooking we call it our Holy Trinity so onions bell peppers and celery salt a little pepper Creole season I'm going to add in fresh garlic has a completely different flavor so I'm going to turn turn this off and I'm going to let this cool just slightly I've taken some gizzards and some chicken livers cook about an hour I want those gizzards to be really really tender I'm going to chop up a few herbs deal is one of my all-time favorites parsley is a great freshener if you notied I'm not worried about those little bit of stems right there I'm going to roll that on up and just chop it up in I like it pretty Herby I'm going to add in my mixture and I want to cook it till it's soft this rice is jasmine rice that has already been cooked um you can do this with leftover rice as well I reserved some of my liquid from cooking the gizzards in if your rice is overcooked you may not need as much liquid I'm going to add in more Creole seasoning this is not a mild dish some salt and pepper and this is the smoked mozzarella so we'll take about half of that there is plenty of mozzarella so now we're going to stuff the squash blossoms all squashes create a FL flour and this is pretty cool because everything's edible so I just come on the side open it just a little pull out that center it's very bitter so you don't want to eat that in order to stuff them I usually use a glove you don't have to we're talking about like a tablespoon SMH it a little and stuff it in there wrap the Blossom and then I just twirl them a little bit and then you have the Squash Blossom okay let's make the batter it's more in the style of like a tempora so it's going to be light it's going to be crisp so I'm using AP flour and corn starch cre seasoning to add a lot of different flavors baking powder and that's going to help it stay crispy add in salt I'm also using Seltzer or sparkling water anything with carbonation and that's going to activate the flour when you're working with corn starch it often comes together really quickly have to keep stirring and vodka everything in this batter we want the liquid to be cold and what that's going to do is create these bubbles that makes it super crispy I wanted to coat my finger can see how it's falling off and I can still see my finger now it's time to fry take those blossoms coat them with a little corn starch it's allowing that batter to stick on little goes a long way with cornstarch you can always feel the difference in the texture too my frer at 350 get it in there let it drip off some and then go straight in twirl it a little holding it letting it come to T and then release reling it they take about 3 minutes you can just turn everything like you want to golden brown crispy batter this good eting and I'm going to sprinkle with just a touch of salt honey sweet and savory so it is about that crispy batter I want to just show you a little bit of that cheese Excuse me while I have a moment it's so good I mean this is what it's about m olet's make a fried Squash Blossom with boot in and smoked mozzarella Global cooking at its best so we're going to heat our pan then we're going to add our oil you'll see that oil kind of Ripple across that's good in most Cajun Creole Louisiana cooking we call it our Holy Trinity so onions bell peppers and celery salt a little pepper Creole season I'm going to add in fresh garlic has a completely different flavor so I'm going to turn turn this off and I'm going to let this cool just slightly I've taken some gizzards and some chicken livers cook about an hour I want those gizzards to be really really tender I'm going to chop up a few herbs deal is one of my all-time favorites parsley is a great freshener if you notied I'm not worried about those little bit of stems right there I'm going to roll that on up and just chop it up in I like it pretty Herby I'm going to add in my mixture and I want to cook it till it's soft this rice is jasmine rice that has already been cooked um you can do this with leftover rice as well I reserved some of my liquid from cooking the gizzards in if your rice is overcooked you may not need as much liquid I'm going to add in more Creole seasoning this is not a mild dish some salt and pepper and this is the smoked mozzarella so we'll take about half of that there is plenty of mozzarella so now we're going to stuff the squash blossoms all squashes create a FL flour and this is pretty cool because everything's edible so I just come on the side open it just a little pull out that center it's very bitter so you don't want to eat that in order to stuff them I usually use a glove you don't have to we're talking about like a tablespoon SMH it a little and stuff it in there wrap the Blossom and then I just twirl them a little bit and then you have the Squash Blossom okay let's make the batter it's more in the style of like a tempora so it's going to be light it's going to be crisp so I'm using AP flour and corn starch cre seasoning to add a lot of different flavors baking powder and that's going to help it stay crispy add in salt I'm also using Seltzer or sparkling water anything with carbonation and that's going to activate the flour when you're working with corn starch it often comes together really quickly have to keep stirring and vodka everything in this batter we want the liquid to be cold and what that's going to do is create these bubbles that makes it super crispy I wanted to coat my finger can see how it's falling off and I can still see my finger now it's time to fry take those blossoms coat them with a little corn starch it's allowing that batter to stick on little goes a long way with cornstarch you can always feel the difference in the texture too my frer at 350 get it in there let it drip off some and then go straight in twirl it a little holding it letting it come to T and then release reling it they take about 3 minutes you can just turn everything like you want to golden brown crispy batter this good eting and I'm going to sprinkle with just a touch of salt honey sweet and savory so it is about that crispy batter I want to just show you a little bit of that cheese Excuse me while I have a moment it's so good I mean this is what it's about m o\n"
