 Ingredients (per serving):*
INGREDIENTS:
For 6 People:
18 Zucchini Flowers (for 3 each but this can be reduced at your inclination)
3 Medium sized Zucchinis
2 Small Garlic Cloves chopped very fine
6 Leaves of fresh mint
24 Leaves of finely cut parsley (use a very sharp knife)
1 Handful of breadcrumbs
25 cl (8.5 oz US) Chicken Broth or Pot au Feu
1 Beaten Egg
4 Tablespoons Cold Pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil (the best you can buy)
For the tomato Sauce "Pomme d'Amour":
500 g (1 1/2 lbs) of the best ripe tomatoes you can buy
12 cl (4 oz) Tablespoons Cold Pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil (the best you can buy)
1 Clove Garlic chopped fine
1 Medium Lemon skin cut into very small cubes
10 g (3 1/2 oz) Coriander seeds crushed.
1 Table Spoon each of Sweet basil, Chervil & Parsely finely chopped (with a sharp knife)
Salt & Pepper
For the Caviar of Eggplant:
600 g (5 lbs) Eggplant which will give 200 g (1 3/4 lbs approx) of dried flesh
10 cl (3 1/3 oz) Cold Pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil (the best you can buy)
2 Small ripe tomatoes
1 desalinated anchovy
2 Cloves garlic marinated in Cold Pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil (the best you can buy)
1 Shallot
10 g (3 1/2 oz) Sweet Basil
5 Pitted Black olives
Salt & Pepper.
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PREPARATION SAUCE d'AMOUR (The day before):
Prepare the tomatoes, peeled and seeded, chop into small evenly sized cubes.
Sale and pepper lightly, add the lemon zest, the chopped herbs, the crushed coriander seeds, and the garlic.
Mix well together. Add the olive oil.
Let this sauce season in a warm place to get the flavors to mingle (NOT the refrigerator) up until the moment of using it.
PREPARATION CAVIAR d'AUBERGINES (The day before):
Preheat the oven to 100 C (225 F)
Prick the washed eggplants with a dozen pokes of a fork.
Cover them with a sheet of aluminum foil.
Bake in the oven for 5 hours.
Then take them out of the oven, let them rest and cool.
Remove the stem and skin and mush them up. Dry them for 10 to 15 minutes over low heat in a saucepan, stirring often.
This should make approximately a purée of about 200 g (1 3/4 lbs approx).
Peel and seed the tomatoes. Mush and miix everything: tomatoes, eggplants, basil, olives, anchovies, shallot and garlic. Pour the olive oil in a thin stream. Reserve in a covered container in the refrigerator.
PREPARATION OF THE STUFFING:
Cut off the ends of the zucchini's.
Slice them into thin slices, then laying them flat, cut them into thin strips like julienne strips.
Cut these across ways making small squares.
Then press then between some paper towels to remove surface water.
Heat a sauce pan on the stove burner, add a 2 table spoons of olive oil, then the finely chopped garlic clove, and cook for approximately 3 minutes and remove before they start turning color.
Increase the heat to maximum.
Add the finely chopped zucchini to the oil and garlic and cook for approximately 5 minutes stirring with a wooden spatula keeping them constantly turning.
Remove from the burner,, add salt & pepper, and let the mixture cool.
Add the chopped herbs, the bread crumbs and some of the beaten egg.
Season to taste.
Later in the day, you can start the stuffing of the fresh zucchini flowers that must be fresh and open.
With a brush, remove the pistil inside the flower without breaking the flower itself. If you have small fingers you can use your fingers.
With one hand hold the flower so you can fill it with the stuffing with the other hand. If you are doing a lot, you can use a pastry bag.
Once full but not all the way, fold over the ends of the flower to make a sort of a pouch that will hold the stuffing in place.
Place the flowers with a little zucchini attached or not, into a pot, NOT on top of each other, with some olive oil and a little bit of water and bring to a boil. Cover with a plate, pot lid or foil and cook on a medium heat for approximately 10 minutes.
PLATING:
Place an attractive dollop of the Eggplant Caviar on one side of a plate, two zucchini stuffer flowers on another side and a bed of the Sauce d'Amour in the last space. Or you can place one stuffed zucchini flower on the bed of Sauce d'Amour and the other across the plate. You can use your own sense of design to make the plate attractive. A sprig of fresh sweet basil always adds just that little something as well.
See the video for the most comprehensive instructions. To see Part One, go to: https://youtu.be/ZpJemtejbe0, that one has the link to the final video Part Two.
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