Fried Dandelion Flowers

Yes, I said DANDELIONS!

We have heard many times that fried dandelions taste just like fried morels.
Since we don't have a super secret morel hunting ground, I thought we'd give this a try.
We were all a little leary.
But we tried them.
And you know what?
They were Ok. Actually, they were pretty good!
Good enough that our daughter has asked for them often.
I have to admit, that they do not taste "just like fried morels". They do taste awfully close to morels, just not exactly like them.
Here's what a few of ours looked like. I guess I should tell you that you can't actually tell that these are fried dandelions. The first time I made them, I just made a few & I dipped each flower in egg batter & flour seperately. After deciding that we liked them & that we'd like to have them again, only more of them, I now use my "batter pro" gizmo to flour them. This makes some of them stick together, which is actually a good thing because it makes bigger sizes. I hope I explained that alright. I just mean that when a few flowers stick together, you have a bigger piece to fry.

Fried Dandelion Flowers
Pick dandelions that are fresh (not starting to close) & pick them close to the bottom. Dont use any of the stem. (that would be yuk)
eggs
milk
salt
pepper
garlic powder
onion salt

First, I soak mine in salt water for a little while to get rid of any bugs that might be hiding in there. We soak morels for at least 24 hours, but you can't soak dandelions that long, or they'll close up. If some of them close up it's ok though.
Fry these like you would fry anyting. I dip mine in an egg batter (eggs & milk) & then dip in flour that has your seasonings in it.
Now fry them in canola oil until crispy & brown.

As much as I would LOVE to fry up a big platter of fried morels...we just don't have any. :( If we did have some, I would just flour them up & fry them. Here's a good site that has recipes for morels. If you don't have access to any morals, my advise is to go there at your own risk. It made my mouth water, & I may have wimpered a few times.

If you are like us & you don't have any morels, you should try these dandelions sometime. They are really good, & they're FREE! And around here they grow in abundance! LOL Unlike morels....