The sun is shining and the air is crisp, making this the most glorius autumn day yet this season.  There's apples, raspberries, blackberries, pears, figs, peppers, aubergines, tomatoes and ... my favorite ... pumpkins.  Things from the earth and things in my kitchen only get better from here until at least Christmas time, and that nesting, nuturing instinct is kicking in again.  That means I get sudden flashes of inspiration of something really exciting to cook when I have promised myself I would not do anything complicated or time consuming or even remotely interesting in the kitchen.  But it's autumn - with all this raw material, the creative juices can't help but flow ...
     Before I start enthusing about autumn recipes, however, I must note that there are still some foods hanging on from summertime - mostly notably courgettes.  My courgette plants just keep producing, and although I have heard shocking amounts of verbal abuse heaped upon this poor vegetable, I will stand tall and say that I, for one, am pleased that my courgette plants keep producing.  The explanation lies with another obession of mine:  the courgette flower.
     I consider myself to have had a very wholesome, healthy, and varied diet growing up.  My mother had a huge garden which produced far more vegetables than any garden of which I'll ever be in charge.  But never in a million years did we know or would we even have guessed that you can eat courgette flowers!  Imagine the liberation I experienced when I learnt that this indeed was the case.  So, here are my two favorite courgette flower recipes.

Stuffed Courgette Flowers

     This has been the standard first course for every romantic dinner I have served my husband over the past four summers.  Like brie cheese and other foods to which I was exposed only after leaving home, these flowers will always seem unique, full of wonder, and never tiresome.

About six courgette flowers
80 grams soft goat's cheese
fresh thyme
pinch dried chilli flakes
zest of 1/2 lemon
pinch salt
160 grams plain flour
240 mls sparkling white grape juice

Very carefully pick the stamen out from the center of each flower, and, being careful again, gently wash the flowers to get rid of any bugs, and pat dry.  Did I say you must be careful?  You will ruin these delicate creations otherwise.

Mix the goat's cheese, thyme, chilli flakes, lemon zest and salt together.  (Carefully) stuff each flower with the mixture, twisting the top of the flower to seal it a bit.

    Next, make the batter by simply mixing the sparkling grape juice with the flour, and maybe adding a pinch of salt.  Dip the flowers into the batter one by one, and, frying one or two at a time, place into a pre-heated, deep fat fryer.  Fry them for about three minutes - keep checking on them, and take them out when they are golden brown, like this:

      
I recommend serving them on a bed of mixed baby lettuce leaves, sprinkled with toasted pine nuts.

Courgette Flower Sauce

     I only discovered this sauce this past summer - in fact, only last month, when I was considering what to make my husband for our candlelight birthday dinner (our birthdays are three days apart, so, conveniently, we are allowed to celebrate them at the same time;  we get the same treatment that way).  I found the recipe in Anna del Conte's Gastronomy of Italy, but I changed some of the ingredients as well as some of the proportions.  I was looking for a sauce for some beautiful sea bass we had brought back with us from our favorite fishmonger, which happens to be about seven hours away from us in Porthleven, Cornwall.  Frankly, I could not have found anything more perfect.  There is something about the texture of the flowers that contributes a velvet smoothness to the sauce.  You will never wonder what to do with courgetters again - just pick the flowers and make this sauce.

Six courgette flowers
1/2 small onion, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
healthy pinch of saffron strands
75 mls hot stock (chicken, fish or vegetable)
1 egg yolk
30 grams grated parmasean cheese

Remove the stamen from the flowers, and wash gently.  Chop the flowers and the onion very finely, and saute them gently in the olive oil and butter, making sure you do not let the onion brown.  Dissolve the saffron strands in the hot stock, and add to the pan.  Put a lid on the pan and let it simmer gently for about 10 minutes or so.  Then put the whole thing in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.  While the mixture is still hot, whisk in the egg yolk and the cheese.  Season if necessary.  You should have an extraordinarily smooth, gloriously yellow and subtly delicious sauce.