While we unfortunately weren’t able to actually eat at Oyamel during their Squash Blossom Festival last week, there was no way I was going to miss Chef Joe Raffa’s demo and tasting at the Penn Quarter FreshFarm Market Thursday evening. I have been going to Penn Quarter on occasion for years – a former coworker and I used to go out of our way to schedule meetings downtown on Thursday afternoons to take a late lunch at the market. Like just about every other local market, it seems to have grown quite a bit from the humble beginning of about three vendors (I remember cheese, bread and soap in the early days). I had read grumblings about DC market prices being significantly higher than those in the ‘burbs, but didn’t really believe it until we picked up blueberries for the toddler at $6 a pint. That would be twice what we’ve been paying in Alexandria. Yikes! (You city-dwellers might find it worthwhile to venture across the river after all … might I suggest the Old Town market, with the free trolley service from the King Street metro.)
There were a few things at Penn Quarter we don’t have though, like the squash blossoms Sand Hill Farm brought, and the marvelous gelato by Dolcezza. I bought the lemon ricotta flavor, made with my favorite Keswick Creamery ricotta. The lemon was the perfect touch to keep it light yet flavorful. Cibola buffalo is also absent from the Alexandria markets (though I think they may be down at Kingstowne – Ramona?) See below for photos from the market.
Chef Raffa dished up a delightful squash blossom soup and watermelon agua fresca (also with squash blossoms). He was also handing out a recipe for goat cheese stuffed squash blossoms, which is how I cooked them up as soon as we got home. (No toddler review of this one, as I greedily ate them all myself! The husband was sick and doesn’t eat goat cheese anyway, his loss.)
Recipe: Flor de Calabaza Rellena de Queso de Cabra con Salsa
(Goat cheese stuffed squash blossoms with salsa)
by Chef Joe Raffa, OyamelIngredients:
- Fresh salsa
- 1 lb goat cheese
- 2 jalapenos, seeded and deveined
- 1/2 c epazote leaves (I didn’t read the recipe at the market to know to buy this – so had to substitute parsley. I would suggest cilantro if you can’t find epazote, but parsley worked as well.)
- 12 squash blossoms
- 1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
- salt
Instructions: (Prepare salsa first, to allow flavors to meld while preparing the squash blossoms. I was missing several ingredients for Raffa’s salsa, so I made a simple one of corn, tomato, red onion, parsley.)
Preheat the over to 350*. Gently rinse the squash blossoms in a bowl of cold water and lightly pat dry with paper towel and set aside. Combine 1 c of the goat cheese, jalapenos and epazote in a food processor and process until smooth. Transfer puree to a mixing bowl and mix in remaining goat cheese. Season with salt. Separate into 12 pieces and roll into 2-3 inch long logs. Gently pry open a squash blossom by pulling back on one of the petals and place a cheese log inside. Lightly pinch the blossom closed around the cheese. Repeat. Place the stuffed squash blossoms on a baking sheet and heat in the oven for no more than 5 minutes. The cheese should be warmed through and the blossoms should soften but not brown. Divide the salsa between 4 plates, top each with 3 squash blossoms and drizzle with olive oil. (Serves 4 – I reduced this for one serving and needed less than 4 oz. of goat cheese to fill my 3 blossoms.
This was by far my favorite meal of the summer. With a simple green salad on the side, it’s rich and creamy yet crisp and refreshing. I loved the jalapeno heat with the sweetness of the squash blossoms. Now I am desperate to get my hands on more squash blossoms to make this again!
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.
Food miles: Squash blossoms, Sand Hill Farm, Greensboro, Md. (84 mi.)
17 responses so far ↓
1 Jill // Jul 30, 2008 at 4:13 pm
Any recipe that calls for a pound of goat cheese is a winner in my book!
2 Ramona // Jul 31, 2008 at 11:36 am
That looks terrific! I’ve been working up the courage to work with squash blossoms. For some reason, they’re intimidating to me. I think I’ll pick some up from a vendor at the Old Town market if they have them this week. They were 12 for $5 last week.
Thanks!
3 Nate // Jul 31, 2008 at 2:10 pm
That looks and sounds delicious. I’ve been wanting to do something with squash blossoms, but everytime I go out to the garden to visit my zucchini and butternut squashes, I don’t have the heart to pick ’em! I guess I’d much rather have them turn into squash later instead of dinner right now.
Do you know what kind of squash blossoms taste best? Or do they all pretty much taste the same?
4 Madeline // Jul 31, 2008 at 3:43 pm
These look fantastic! I’ll have to keep my eyes out for squash blossoms and try this.
5 Pietra // Jul 31, 2008 at 4:11 pm
I pick just the male blossoms so I’ll also get the squash. I now grow extra squash just for the blossoms.
These look fantastic.
6 foodietots
Twitter: foodietots
// Jul 31, 2008 at 9:44 pm
@ Jill – I know, how can you go wrong?
@ Ramona – They’re pretty easy, go for it! I want to try frying them next, had them that way at Mio a few months ago and loved it.
@ Nate – I haven’t tried other varieties to know. This recipe actually refers to pumpkin flowers but the chef said they’re pretty interchangeable. I imagine if I were growing my own it would be hard to pick them prematurely. I like Pietra’s foresight to plant extra!
@ Madeline – Thanks!
@ Pietra – I didn’t even realize there were male and female blossoms. Clearly I am *not* a gardener!
7 Ramona // Aug 1, 2008 at 9:50 am
Oops, just saw the Cibola question. Yes! They are at Kingstowne, and Mt. Vernon. I made buffalo burgers this week and I swear, they are theeee tastiest burgers ever. Time to restock! I’m going to try to make some meatloaf with the buffalo too.
8 Tiffany // Aug 1, 2008 at 10:09 am
Those look awesome!
9 Hillary // Aug 1, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Squash blossoms are so pretty! I like how you used them in your dish.
10 PaniniKathy // Aug 1, 2008 at 10:00 pm
Such an incredibly beautiful presentation! I really do need to get to my local farmer’s market this weekend – haven’t been since my daughter was born 8 mos ago. Never too early to learn her veggies, I guess! 🙂
11 Sylvie, Rappahannock Cook & Kitchen Gardener // Aug 3, 2008 at 9:36 am
I am was just going to say – use your male blossoms, but Pietra beat me to the punch. For the first few weeks, the squash often produce male blossoms only anyway, and since there are no females around… pick them. Later when the vines has both, just leave a few males. Also pick after the flowers has just opened if possible. They don’t live long, and if they are picked before visited by insect and stood in a glass of water, they’ll last longer.
You can recognize the female blossom in that they have a tiny fruit just under them. If the female flower is fertilized correctly, the tiny fruit (the ovary, really!) will grow into a real fruit. Otherwise, it’ll abort (dry off and drop off).
Botany and gardening and cooking (and eating!): endlessly fascinating.
12 All Over the Palate | Eat It, Atlanta // Aug 3, 2008 at 2:23 pm
[…] Foodie Tots: Stuffed Squash Blossoms […]
13 Millard // Apr 28, 2014 at 3:29 pm
If electric shaver you would like another option, you may
pat a hot wet towel after washing your face, legs, and arms.
Shaving constantly subjects electric shaver your skin to
dry and can also clog the razor. Ingredients are synthetic, moisturizers leave a
strange film on your face. Recommendations
as to shave against the direction of the hair growth prevents ingrown hair.
So you are asking a lot of hair in the pubic regions.
Also visit my web site :: hairy (Millard)
14 small business marketing strategy // Jul 9, 2014 at 7:27 pm
Saved as a favorite, I like your site!
My web blog; small business marketing strategy
15 sukanto tanoto // Jul 25, 2014 at 9:24 pm
The result of choosing LOVE instead of fear was phenomenal.
The popularity of Firefox was built through a traditional, inexpensive marketing method: word of mouth marketing.
Follow his example to become more successful in your own business efforts.
16 http://futurechina.sg/speaker/sukanto-tanoto // Sep 10, 2014 at 9:12 am
This article is gnuinely a pleasant one it assists
neew internet visitors, who arre wishing for blogging.
my web page … http://futurechina.sg/speaker/sukanto-tanoto
17 tour de magie carte // Sep 20, 2014 at 10:43 pm
Simply want to say your article is as astonishing. The clarity in your post is just excellent and i
could assume you are an expert on this subject.
Fine with your permission let me to grab your RSS feed to keep up to date with forthcoming
post. Thanks a million and please keep up
the enjoyable work.