Zucchini blossoms stuffed with ricotta and deep-fried are a classic summer dish. The petals are too delicate to hold on to for long, so in the short time they are around we tend to stick to the tried and true recipes. Until now.

I recently saw a post from Neil Faba, the man behind the wonderful Communal Table blog, about baked zucchini blossoms. Neil did his simply just sprinkling with salt and pepper before tossing them in the oven. I decided to try my traditional stuffed and breaded blossoms baked in the oven.

To clean the zucchini blossom, open it up as delicately as you can and pinch out the little stamen in the centre, they are now ready for stuffing. The ricotta was mixed with lemon zest, lemon juice, lemon thyme and delicate pea shoots. This was then scooped into the blossoms. They were put into the fridge for a few hours to firm up and when it was time the oven was pre-heated to 400. Each stuffed flower was dipped in egg wash then dredged in breadcrumbs seasoned with salt, pepper and a touch of cayenne. The breaded bundles were then laid out on a parchment covered cookie sheet. They went into the oven for 8 minutes, were pulled out and flipped before going back in the oven for another 5-7 minutes to brown both sides.

They came out beautifully crunchy on the outside and meltingly soft in the centre with no greasy residue on the palate or the fingers. Served over a salad of farm fresh baby lettuces with radish and more of those wonderful pea shoots, they were a big hit with my dinner guests. After the dessert was served there was no huge pan of oil to clean up, no scent of deep-frying in the air. Just one crumb-y sheet of parchment to ball up and toss.

Thanks Neil, you’ve inspired and healthier and easier alternative to an old standby without sacrificing any flavour!

A guest post from our good friend, the founder and editor of www.spotlighttoronto.com, Suresh Doss

My Favourite Breakfast

I’ve been making this for years when I want a quick breakfast but also something different from scrambled eggs or an omelette. The recipe is very simple, here is what you need to re-create it.

Baked Eggs in Tomatoes

Ingredients

- medium sized tomatoes

- Eggs

- Fresh Basil

- Extra virgin olive oil

- Salt / Pepper to taste

Steps

- Preheat the oven to 375degrees

- Chop fresh basil and toss them in a bowl with a drizzle of olive oil and some salt and pepper to create a rub.

- Cut out the tops off the tomatoes and scoop out the seeds with a spoon. You want nice hollow centres so when you drop the egg, it stays in place.

- Rub the inside of the tomato generously with the basil rub.

- Place the tomatoes on a baking sheet, and put them into the oven for 8-10 minutes. If you wish to wrap a piece of proscuitto or bacon around the tomato, cook for a longer period of time.

- Take the tomatoes out, and drop an egg into each. Try not to crack the yolk.

- Place the tomatoes carefully back in the oven for another 8-10 minutes, until desired doneness.

- Sprinkle a little basil, salt over the tomato and serve immediately.

It’s a very flexible recipe that you can play with. I like to add proscuitto and a variety of other herbs and seasonings.

This could even be a good appetizer course at dinner time, topped with some smoked salmon and creme fraiche or splashed with truffle oil and some tarragon leaves.

Suresh eats very very well and all over the province. He takes lots of pictures of what he’s having for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Join the thousands of happy food fanatics who follow Suresh’s every move on Twitter here

Herb gardens are going crazy all over town and we want you to make use of that bounty in every meal. Here we present a series of recipes and ideas for putting all those delicious plants to good use.

Mint is not just a garnish for your dessert plate. It is so hardy and comes back every year so you’ve got to find ways to use it up. The chocolate mint pictured is in it’s third year. No special fertilizers or anything, it sits in a planter in the sun and bursts forth every spring.

You know how your beer cooler smells all musty when you pull it out for that first camping trip of the year? Scrub it out, then add hot water and throw in a bunch of mint leaves, close the lid and leave for a day. The mint “tea” will clear out the mustiness and leave you with a fresh smelling cooler ready to be packed with beer. You can use mint to freshen up your suitcase, sleeping bags, tents. Just place a branch of fresh leaves inside and let the mint work it’s magic scent into every nook and cranny.

Behind the bar it belongs in cocktails like mint juleps and mojitos. In the kitchen try using it in savoury dishes, like watermelon salad with basil, feta and mint or minted peas. The perfect side dish to some grilled lamb and so simple to make. Fry up some shallots in butter, toss in fresh or frozen peas, season with salt and pepper, sautee. At the last minute toss in a bunch of roughly chopped mint and serve.

Vegetable garden, started the Easy Way and thriving in backyard garden in mid July

The Hard Way

1. Get shovel or spade and dig up clumps of grass. Scrape off only turf, by slicing your spade under sod or simply dig straight down. Knock turf clod  to loosen the soil. Grass clumps go in compost, grass side down. If soil is too sandy or clay, add triple mix, compost and/or rotted manure. (This step works for all) Start planting.

2. If mid July, sweat profusely, and enjoy muscles speaking to you about it the next day.

The Slow Way

1. Collect huge stack of newspapers and cardboard. Hoarders rejoice! Put thick layers (newspaper at least 10 sheets thick) on grass. If you can find an old carpet, even better. Use rocks or bricks to hold down. Lack of water and light kills grass. If newspaper offends eyes, add thick layer of coarse mulch on top.

2. Wait at least a year. Read books, file nails, catch up on Mad Men. No sweat involved. Peel off or dig through the newspapers. Remove carpet completely. Start planting.

The Easy Way to Get Your Vegetable Garden Started - Garden Planted End of May

The Easy Way

1. Use pre-bagged organic soil. Buy as many as you need to cover the garden space. Put bag flat side down, cut slashes in bottom and open up top by cutting with knife, as in picture above.

2. Lay bags side by side, with no space between. Plant your tomatoes or whatever you want right in the bag. Roots will fill bag and then go down into the soil underneath.

3. Bags will kill grass underneath. Next year, or even at the end of the season, remove the plastic that the bags came in and dispose.

Picture at top shows same garden in mid summer.

Photos and Garden by Patrick Lowney

Herb gardens are going crazy all over town and we want you to make use of that bounty in every meal. Here we present a series of recipes and ideas for putting all those delicious plants to good use.

I’m a total maniac for dill but I really only use it in the summer when it’s fresh and in my face. The tallest herb in the garden, with fronds that tickle your ankles reminding you that potato salad sucks without dill and so do bagels with lox, borscht, tuna salad, pickles, perogies and sour cream, dolmadakia, tartar sauce….

Dill just makes everything better. Pop a few dill flowers in with your next batch of quick cucumber pickles, add it to a Greek salad, mix it into butter and serve with pumpernickel bread and radishes, you could even use a few fronds to garnish your next gin and tonic.

My favourite use for this herb though is with fish, especially trout. Grill some trout then serve it up family-style next to a bouquet of dill and a bowl of lemon wedges. Fresh dill sprinkled over tender, grilled trout with a splash of lemon. Perfect.

Herb gardens are going crazy all over town and we want you to make use of that bounty in every meal. Here we present a series of recipes and ideas for putting all those delicious plants to good use.

The leaves of this herb are known as cilantro and the seeds known as coriander. In July the plant blooms with tiny white flowers that give way to bright green seeds and these seeds are fresh coriander. They taste like a combination of the soapy, wild cilantro leaf and the spicy, aromatic dried coriander seed. They only last for a short time, make sure to use them while you can and if you can’t use them all just harvest and pop in the freezer.

They provide tiny bursts of unique flavour that you can toss into salads, garnish soups and spice up salsas and curries.

I like them in this Middle Eastern inspired quinoa salad. Quinoa is high in protein, contains a balanced set of amino acids, is a good source of phosphorous and is high in magnesium and iron. So put down that prepackaged bag of coleslaw and the tub of Miracle Whip. Make this salad right now.

Mix quinoa, currants, lemon juice and zest with shaved almonds, parsley, mint and fresh coriander seeds. Add some olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Simple.

Torontonians love the cottage like no one else. Let those Vancouverites camp out in their organic hemp tents and the New Yorkers slouch in their Hamptons mansions, we want the cottage and we don’t care if it’s five hours away or surrounded by an impenetrable wall of mosquitoes.

So here we present some tips for making your cottage experience the best it can be.

Bring a can opener. Even if the cottage has a can opener it’s probably a cheap Giant Tiger version that’s slightly rusted out and only useful for banging on the water heater with. Buy a really good quality can opener and keep it in your glove compartment, you’ll be amazed at how much it aids in your existence. Especially when the zombies have taken over and there are only canned goods available in your neck of the woods.

Paper towels. They aren’t great for the environment but sometimes they are necessary. If you’re worried about the planet carry a bundle of rags, and when they run out grab your stash of paper towels to clean up the beer you just spilled all over your Muskoka chair.

Ice. This is the most important thing to have in your kit. The kit that reads “Crazy for Cottages” and contains the aforementioned super duper can opener and 100% recycled paper towels. Going to the cottage means ice cold beer, lemonade and hot hot sun. You need ice.

Garbage bags. Leave it like you found it. That means no old issues of the National Enquirer or empty cans of gingembre, no burnt out sparklers or paper plates stained with rib sauce. Clean it all up and load it in the back of the Volvo big daddy.

Bug spray. It doesn’t matter what time of day or night or even what time of year – there will always be mosquitoes and they will always be hungry for your blood. That guy who says he doesn’t need bug spray because “bugs just don’t bother me” will be found dead in a ditch soon, covered in welts and completely drained of DNA. Ontario mosquitoes don’t just like you man, they love you.
Skin so Soft. Call your Avon lady and if you don’t have an Avon lady call your grandma and get in touch with hers. Only Avon sells Skin so Soft and only Skin so Soft can repel even the most ravenous of midnight mosquitoes.

Memory card. The first night at the cottage is the most fun night ever, until the next day when you look at all the pictures you took. Don’t just delete it, throw your memory card out. If you don’t your friends will steal your bundle of rags and your stash of Skin so Soft and put you out to pasture.

Have fun out there, keep it clean and only flush when absolutely necessary.

Baby it’s hot outside!

The perfect weather for salads, grilling, ice cream sandwiches and now, how about a little icy cold soup? We sent out a tweet the other day asking for cold soup recipe suggestions and quickly got overwhelmed by the response.

@JoMakesStuff suggested this chilled chickpea soup with yogurt and mint. @Lucers suggested a beautiful white gazpacho courtesy of Hugh Fearnley-Whittinstall. @SweetKeet recommended a cold raspberry soup with tapioca, garnished with mint leaves and sour green grapes. @ikapai and @saskyah both recommended chilled tomato soup using roasted tomatoes and dill. So many unique recipe ideas, how to choose?

A peek in the fridge helped make the decision. A head of romaine lettuce, a tub of plain yogurt, and a healthy dill bush in the front yard. Sauteed onions deglazed with white wine and simmered in chicken stock with a few new potatoes made the base. They were then blitzed up with chopped zuchinni, romaine, a few handfuls of frozen petit pois and a beautiful cold soup was born. Once chilled just garnish with plain yogurt and a sprinkle of dill. You could get fancy with some smoked salmon or caviar. Serve with champagne.