dukkah crusted zucchini and pumpkin flowers

We planted some pumpkin seeds a while ago, and my vine has now grown to a healthy 4 metres in length. Each morning, I have a good crop of bright yellow flowers, happily smiling away at me. So far, though, they're all boys. The swollen, voluptuous lady flowers are being a little shy. They must be having too much fun with the girls from my zucchini plants, as they too are yet to make an appearance.

What to do then, with these lovely blooms? They last only a day, and if I'm not quick, my industrious ants carry off all the pollen. So, I picked them first thing this morning, while still bright and fully open.

Rinse the flowers thoroughly, and remove the stamen. I stuffed mine with a slice of Edam cheese and also some basil from my garden. The batter consisted of 10g cornflour (approximately 8g carb), 2 tablespoons local Dukkah, and just enough ice cold water to make a reasonably firm mix. Dip each flower and shallow fry in olive oil, turning (carefully) until golden on all sides. I served mine with very peppery rocket from my garden, some truffle oil and aged balsamic. Amazing to have something straight from the garden and in my tummy in half an hour.

NB - no pesticide used in my garden, or any nasty chemicals, otherwise I would steer clear of this.

chilli fried squid

My husband and I love squid. I used to make it with a beer or soda batter and deep fry it. This is low carb and low fat and absolutely delicious.

Ingredients

4 squid tubes
20g cornflour
1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes
Salt and pepper
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tblsp olive oil
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tblsp wasabi

Method

Butterfly the squid tubes and lay flat on a chopping board. Shiny side down, score diamonds into the squid by running a sharp knife diagonally. Toss the squid in a bowl with salt, pepper, chilli flakes and cornflour. Use your hands to evenly coat the squid pieces. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a wok until smoking, then add the squid. Stir almost continually for approximately 5 minutes, until cooked and crisp. Squeeze lemon juice over squid and continue to cook for a further minute.

Combine mayonnaise and wasabi.

Serve squid while hot with Mayo wasabi.