Crab Stuffed Squash Blossoms

Oh my! Have you ever tasted anything so awesome? I got this pearl of a recipe from San Diego Restaurants. San Diego's much praised Currant downtown serves this mouth-watering dish as one of their main appetizers. I would say, for my first time making this dish, it's definately a household keeper! These were awesome little morsels great for an afternoon snack! It sure is a lot of work. The labor does pay off in the end though!

Crab Stuffed Squash Blossoms

1lb Crab claw meat
½ bunches chives (finely chopped)
½ bunches parsley (finely chopped)
1 lemon, zested and juiced
¼ C. fresh cream
6-8 squash blossoms
1 batch of tempura batter (recipe follows)
1 asparagus salad with lemon vinaigrette (recipe follows)
1 batch of lemon sabayon (recipe follows)


Combine crab meat, chives, parsley, lemon and cream in a large bowl. Mix into a paste-like consistency. Place into a piping bag and pipe into cleaned and prepared blossoms.

Caution: Do not overfill blossoms. Fill to about ¾ way full.

To prepare the Blossoms:

Gently but thoroughly rinse the blossoms. With a small spoon, remove the stamens, then give another quick rinse.

Tempura Batter:

1C. rice flour
1C. all-purpose flour
2 Tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 ½ C. soda water

Combine both kinds of flour, eggs, salt in a bowl. Slowly add the soda water while mixing the ingredients together until the batter has reached the consistency of pancake batter: slightly runny, will run in thin ribbons off a wooden spoon.

Note: Only use enough soda water to create the desired consistency of the batter.
Carefully coat each squash blossom evenly with the tempura batter. Fry each tempura battered blossom to a golden brown. You want the oil in the pan to cover the blossom. This will ensure even frying and that lovely golden brown color!

Shaved Asparagus Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette:

1 bunch of asparagus
4 lemons, juiced
1 C. extra virgin olive oil
2 shallots, diced
1 pinch, salt and pepper to taste

Combine the lemon juice, olive oil, shallots, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Shave the asparagus with a peeler. Coat shaved asparagus with the lemon vinaigrette mixture.

Lemon Sabayon:

4 lemons, juiced
8 egg yolks
2 Tbsp. white wine
1/2 bunch(es) chives, diced
1/2 bunch(es) parsley, diced
1 pinch salt, to taste
Combine all of the ingredients above and cook over a double boiler until ribbons form.

Plating:

Spoon a generous amount of the lemon sabayon onto a plate. Place the asparagus salad on top of the sabayon sauce. Carefully arrange 1 -3 squash blossoms on top of the asparagus salad. Take a photo.