Squash Blossom Cornbread

Squash blossoms are one of those unique treats. They're not particularly flavourful, but they're a delicacy of fragility. They last less than 12 hours, so working with them requires a fresh supply and an early morning harvest. Although they don't impart much flavour to this dish, they add a unique look.

First, I collected the blossoms from garden in the morning.  It's important to work fairly quickly since they'll wilt and become unusable.  Carefully flatten (but don't crush) them.  Mix a corn bread batter: cornmeal, almond milk, eggs, olive oil, salt and baking powder.

The trick to really great cornbread is a preheated cast iron pan.  When preheating the oven, place a cast iron skillet inside.  When the preheat cycle is over, remove the pan, add a generous glug of oil and then add the batter.  Immediately, the bread begins cooking and bubbling.  This creates a rich, thick and crispy crust.

I like to give cornbread a savoury edge by adding rings of red onion.  Finish the batter by placing the squash flowers atop the batter, drizzle or spray with olive oil, and return the skillet to the oven.

It's ready when the top is golden brown.

Pan-seared Polenta with Chèvre and Thyme

Polenta has a reputation of blandness.  It's a well earned reputation, so you have to build flavour into the dish.

First, bring salted water to a boil.  You can also use veg stock to provide more taste.  Polenta varies in terms of firmness.  Since this will be fried, this dish needs enough cornmeal so that it's not porridge.

Slowly add the cornmeal to the boiling water while stirring.  Or, if you're crazy enough to try to hold a camera and take photos while cooking, you'll need to whisk the mixture to remove the lumps.  Boil for about a minute or two, until it's thick and begins to "blurp."  Then allow to cool and set firm.

Once cooled, remove from the pan and slice into workable chunks.  (It helps to wet the knife before cutting.)  Sear both sides of the polenta in olive oil.

Garnish and serve with flavourful pairings.  I chose the creamy sharpness of goat cheese; the also tangy, yet sweet, aged balsamic; savoury, bright tomatoes and the mildly pungent thyme.

This can easily be made vegan by substituting or omitting the chèvre.  Mixed olives would be an ideal alternate.