Our version of "Farm to Table"

Today was the first Saturday since we've been in Boone that we've been able to make it to the local Farmer's Market. We really didn't have a plan or list, but for certain wanted to see if anyone had squash blossoms. I've been looking forward to making them for some time.

We cruised through at record speed and found a plethora of goodies:
purple basil, red tomatoes, goat cheese with chives (to stuff the blossoms), cantaloupe, berries (straw-, black-, and blue-), fresh corn, pork chops and portabello/onion/asiago raviloi. Enough for two days' dinners.

I had researched a few recipes for the stuffed squash blossoms and there were a few comments about how delicate they were and the importance of gently washing them. Well, delicate is an understatement! The closest analogy would be - tissue paper! Nonetheless, got them rinsed.

Rinsed squash blossoms drying before being dredged.

Squash blossoms stuffed with fresh chive goat cheese, ready for their coating.

Blossoms 'dressed' (in a light dusting of flour, egg wash and Panko bread crumbs) before their dip in the "hot tub".

First batch out of the oil was perfectly golden brown!

Photo was snapped before the plate was formally dressed, but the sauces we had to dip the blossoms in were yummy! (Peach Chipotle from Krueger's in Oregon and Tomato Basil from Flatrock, NC.)

While we enjoyed our appetizers, the pork chops were on the grill and the corn was on the stove. The tomatoes were perfectly ripe and the purple basil was a nice addition. And what is mandatory with pork chops? Applesauce of course!

Pork chops with a tasty rub, bi-color corn as sweet as candy and the ripe red tomatoes.

I don't imagine the Queen of England butters her corn on the cob this way (if she even eats it). But it is the easiest, most efficient butter-maximization method for buttering corn!

Dessert (Three Berry & Nectarine Cobbler) will follow tomorrow.