Ode to Summer Stuffed and Fried Squash Blossom Tacos

Brunch, Dinner, Gluten-Free, Mexican, Summer, Vegetarian

Ode to Summer Stuffed and Fried Squash Blossom Tacos

I am loving all the summer produce in the market. The zucchini squash blossoms are just so pretty and make for amazing quesadillas, tacos, frittatas, pizzas and so many other dishes that are fun to make and eat! A couple of years ago, I had a lot of the zucchini blossom that grew beautifully in my garden and they were a treat! I need to plan earlier next year and plant them again because they make for delicious meals! In addition corn, zucchini, bell pepper are in abundance too and am thoroughly enjoying the produce, in the last few days of summer! Taco Tuesday is one of our favorite days of week, because we do make tacos every Tuesday! Tuesday is one of the busiest days for me, with a lot of meetings, and one way to get by it is by making tacos, which are really a quick fix for a weeknight meal. They are simple to prepare and the whole family enjoys them!

These tacos that I created here are slightly tedious because I made several components, all made from scratch because fresh, homemade, is made with love, BUT they are FULL of flavor in each and every bite! There is the stuffed and fried zucchini blossoms component where the filling is bursting with flavor, with fresh veggies sautéed in chipotle/smoked paprika and garlic, and mixed with delicious Oaxaca cheese which is the “mozzarella” of Mexico. The cheese is stringy but slighty tangy and salty which makes it fantastic in quesadillas. When we had gone to Puerto Vallarta in 2016, I had taken a one day cooking class with a chef, in his home. He made the most delicious homemade tortillas, and he put this stringy cheese in the middle of the hot corn tortilla, fresh off the griddle and rolled it up and told us to eat it right away! That was absolute HEAVEN! The ooey gooey cheese in that fresh tortilla with a tad bit more salt was so simple yet so tasty! I wanted more! That is how I thought of filling these squash blossoms with this cheese.

I have a variation of these squash blossom tacos here, but there are different from the ones I have made here in the sense, I simply stuff the blossoms with cheese and fry them. The best part is simmering in this sauce from Simply Organic which is delicious! Both are great recipes in my opinion! 😉

Then there is the salsa component, where I used fresh corn and peaches from the market ,to make a buttered corn and peach salsa with a bit of red jalapeno. Fantastic with some salty tortilla chips I tell you! Then there is the homemade tortillas ofcourse! I am totally inspired by my dear friend Susan of https://www.lifelimonysal.com/ ! She puts chipotle in adobo sauce in her tortillas, and I made tortillas inspired by her. Her food is so drool worthy and sublime, and her Instagram a must visit! Give her a follow and go to her website for more recipe inspiration! I used my own ratio for the corn flour and water. In India, we make corn rotis so I have a fair idea of what texture, consistency to look for when making the dough. It should not have too much water else it will be sticky. Corn flour is not pliable like wheat flour, so it needs to be treated a bit differently and gently. The tortilla press is a great tool to have for doughs made with flours that are not pliable. You cut a ziplock bag on the sides to open it up. Now place the ziplock bag opened, on the tortilla press. Put one dough ball on it, and cover with the other side of the Ziplock bag. Now press the tortilla press to flatten the dough. The dough will not stick and you can easily remove it on the palm of your hand onto a plate. Continue the process to press all tortillas and then cook them on the stove.

The chipotle crema is just da bomb!!!! IT is packed with flavor and my daughter loves it with just about anything and everything LOL! It has simple ingredients and it forms a great finishing touch to the flavor packed taco. You can make most of the ingredients except the stuffed and fried squash blossoms, which are fantastic when they are fresh. That way you can enjoy this meal even on a weeknight with prep done on a Sunday!

Make these tacos before the ingredients vanish and before summer ends because you will LOVE them and remember the taste and will be enticed to make them next summer too! 🙂 We have made these tacos several times over the course of summer, and I am finally putting the recipe out there for you to grab!

Hope you all are enjoying the last few days of summer! The weather is finally getting nicer here, you can feel the fallish chill in the air. It is still hot during the day but evenings are pleasant! Looking forward to fall and am loving all the fall fashion in the catalogues too! 🙂

Have a great one folks!

Amisha

Yum

Summer Stuffed and Fried Squash Blossom Tacos

Ingredients

Chipotle Corn Tortillas:
(Makes approx. 22 tortillas)
3 cups of masa harina
2 cups warm water
2 tsp table salt
1 tbsp chipotle in adobo sauce(minced fine)
*Stuffed and Fried Squash Blossoms: *
22 squash blossoms
2 tbsp butter
Corn kernels from 1 ear of corn
1/3 cup onions finely diced
¼ cup red bell pepper finely cubed
1/3 cup zucchini finely cubed
2 garlic cloves
1 tsp chipotle in adobo sauce
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 ½ cup Oaxaca cheese, freshly grated
2 cups rice flour
2 cups panko bread crumbs
3 large eggs, whipped well with a fork(like when whipping eggs for scrambled eggs)
2 cups of vegetable oil for shallow frying
Buttered Corn and Peach Salsa:
1 tbsp butter
Corn kernels from 1 ear of corn
1/3 cup red onion finely diced
1 yellow peach, finely cubed
Juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp finely chopped cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste
1 jalapeno, with seeds removed, only skin, diced into small pieces
Chipotle Crema:
1 cup sour cream
Juice of 1 ½ limes
1 tbsp chitpole in adobo
1 tsp salt
Marinated red cabbage and red onion:
2 cups of red cabbage finely shredded
½ cup of red onion finely shredded
1 cup of red wine vinegar
Garnish:
Slices of avocado
Slices of jalapeno
Cilantro

Instructions

Chipotle Corn Tortillas:
In a large bowl, combine the masa harina and salt and whisk to combine. Now add in the chipotle in adobo and warm water, and mix with your hands, gathering all the dry masa from the sides and into the center of the bowl to bring the mixture together. You want to keep mixing with your hands to bring it all together. Once it is coming close to a ball, keep mixing it. If it is too dry, add a tablespoon of extra water at a time to mix.
Break apart about 1.10oz of dough and roll it into balls. Weigh each ball so you can get uniform tortillas. Now use your tortilla press, and a ziplock bag cut into half on both ends to open it up. Lay the ziplock bag open on the tortilla press. Add each dough ball, and press it hard to make the tortilla. Do the same for all the balls.
On medium to high heat, on a small pan, add each tortilla. Cook one side for 1 minute, flip it over and cook for another minute, while pressing with a flat spatula on the flip side only. Keep it covered on a plate between a kitchen towel, so that the moisture retains. Repeat with all the remaining tortillas.
Marinated red cabbage and red onion:
In a small bowl, add all the ingredients and mix. Keep it covered for an hour or two before eating.
Buttered Corn and Peach Salsa:
In a medium saucepan, on medium heat, add the butter, and the corn and saute until lightly brown for about 5 minutes. Let it cool. In a medium bowl, add in the diced peaches, red onion, salt, pepper, lime, cilantro and mix. Add in the buttered corn once cooled and mix. Set it aside.
Chipotle Crema:
In a small bowl, combine all the ingredients and mix well to combine.
*Stuffed and Fried Squash Blossoms: *
In a medium saucepan, on medium heat, add the butter and let it melt. Now add in the corn, red bell pepper, zucchini, onion, garlic, spices like chipotle, smoked paprika, salt and pepper. Saute for about 7 minutes until veggies are soft. Remove in a bowl and keep aside. Let it cool until it is ever so slightly warm to the touch. Now add in the Oaxaca cheese and mix to combine.
Fill about a heaped teaspoonful of filling into each squash blossom and set aside on a plate. Fill all of the squash blossoms with the mixture. Do this step very gently as the squash blossoms are delicate.
Arrange 3 shallow wide bowls, with the rice flour, whisked eggs, and panko bread crumbs. Heat a large saucepan with the vegetable oil, on medium heat. Let it get hot for about 3-4 minutes. Keep a large plate with parchment paper on the side.
In the meanwhile, drench each filled squash blossom in the rice flour, egg and panko mixture, in that order only and keep it aside on a plate. Remove the excess by gently tapping it at each step. Repeat the process for 6 more squash blossoms. Now shallow fry the blossoms in the pan and rotate until golden brown on each side, about 30 seconds on each side. Remove and keep aside on the plate with parchment paper. Repeat the process 2 more times with the remaining 7 + 8 squash blossoms.
Assembly:
Keep the taco bar ready. Assemble each taco with a fried stuff squash blossom, top with the corn and peach salsa, marinated red cabbage and red onion mixture, jalapeno, creama, cojita cheese and cilantro. And EAT AWAY!