TLA #1 - Not Bad For The First Try -

Stuffed and Deep-Fried Zucchini Blossoms with Fried Fish Fillet

Oh yeah, I hear you guys saying, "Wow! Obachan, you did it!" Yep, I did it. I sacrificed the first two zucchini blossoms and made this dish for lunch today.

The flowers were pretty big and both were female. I didn't hesitate to pick them because the male flowers seemed to have needed more time to bloom, so pollination was not possible anyway.

Zucchini Blossoms I picked today

I made the stuffing based on the several recipes I found on the Internet. If possible, I wanted to try the simple ricotta cheese stuffing, but of course such a thing is not available in a rural place like this. So I used cottage cheese instead, and out of curiosity, I also minced onion, zucchini and shrimp and mixed with the cheese to make the stuffing.

The combination was good. I L-O-V-E-D the taste of the flowers with the stuffing. But the fried flowers were not crisp at all and I definitely want to improve that next time.

BTW, are you wondering why the title of this post starts with TLA? Well, as long-term readers of my previous foodblog probably know, it was a series of posts on my "Obachcan's Kitchen & Balcony Garden" and TLA stands for "Tough Luck Angler." Yes, the posts were about my fishing adventures.
So...?
Yes, I started going fishing again! :D And the fried fish fillet in the top photo was my first catch here (not including the fishing experience in my childhood).

Wrasse and Largescale blackfish

These are tasty fish. But the ones I cautht were just -- small. (Again!) Let's say, primary-schooler size, if not babies? My family usually simmers or deep-fries small fish like these, and I chose deep-frying this time so that I can use the same oil after frying the zucchini flowers.

So, after all, my first fishing here, as well as my first zucchini flower dish, turned out alright, I think.
And I'm looking forward to the next try. :)