Recipes for Cucumbers? How Do You Eat them?

[Ozark Lady]

Okay, I added radishes to my grocery list this week.
I know store bought won't compare. But I won't have radishes, until I get some planted, after this snow gets out of my way!
The 10 day forecast calls for the snow to leave next week! Yeah...
Just in time to get a late start on my early crops... but not too late.
A couple weeks shouldn't hurt a thing... A couple months, makes it iffy.

Okay you sold me on radishes... how about cucumbers?
I seldom plant more than one or two plants, I get tired of them sliced in vinegar, sliced in sour cream, or diced in salads...
Is there another way to use them? By the way, my pickles always turn out mushy and gross, so I no longer attempt them... just buy good pickles at the grocers.

[syntheticbutterfly]

I add they to my stir frys!

[Toil]

shredded, as a garnish for miso pork noodles (google it). on the side, you have a small piece of garlic (the little baby ones). You take a bite of garlic, a bite of noodles... yum!

And howabout cucmber wakame salad? It's the seaweed that floats in miso soup. You can get it dried real cheap. I steep some dried bonito briefly in some hot brown rice vinegar (any will do) to make the dressing. Slice the cucumber and put the wakame on top, then dressing, then some sesame seeds. again, yum!

[rainbowgardener]

I don't much like cucumbers, so don't grow them, but I get some from my CSA, so I turn them into refrigerator pickles.

Profound revelation: Pickles are the only thing to do with cucumber!

[cynthia_h]

sliced cukes, plain yogurt, fresh chopped mint leaves.
let stand 15 minutes or more.

Sounds like Lunch or, maybe, side dish at Dinner.

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[applestar]

I don't know why, but I REALLY like them sliced lengthwise into long rectangles in ham sandlwiches.

You HAVE to try Duh_Vinch's refrigerator pickles -- I think he called them Russian Half Sours.... He posted the recipe last summer.

[Toil]

oh yeah! cucumber sandwiches and tea! you can pretend you are at a polo match, or at the races with Liza Doolittle and Prof. Higgins.

[Ozark Lady]

My favorite use for cucumbers is in stuffing tomatoes...

I pick a nice sized tomato... quarter it not quite all the way through, then I mix up chicken salad, tuna salad, ham salad, or even egg salad, and along with the mayo and pickle relish, I dice up some cucumber bits, and then I scoop a large serving of my salad over my tomato and have a fancy lunch, that I serve on a bed of lettuce and with crackers or croutons.

But, how many times per week can you eat this before it is tiring?
I often slice them lengthwise and use them as garnish on dinner plates, along with some cherry tomato slices, and bits of greenery... looks pretty.

I have cut them into all kinds of neat shapes, sometimes leaving just a bit of peel... for decorations and garnishes...

I wonder... you can make soup out of celery and mushrooms... both are delicate ... would cucumber make a good soup? A cucumber flavored sauce? And served over what? Come on, all you great cooks... let's figure some way to try to come up with recipes for cucumbers...

[rainbowgardener]

cucumber does make nice soups (even I say that as doesn't like cucumber!). Type cucumber soup into the keyword search at allrecipes.com and you will get a nice selection of them. I didn't see any cucumber mushroom soups, but I did find this"

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Easy-Cream ... etail.aspx

It's a potato soup that has cucumbers and mushrooms in it.

[applestar]

Don't forget this thread nes started last year:
http://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/v ... hp?p=90897

[Tigerlilylynn]

http://www.manjulaskitchen.com/2007/06/ ... ta-yogurt/

You can pretty much add any of the neutral/mild flavor water veggies. I serve it on the side of spicy food and it makes a great salad dressing. You can use fat free yogurt too since it's already going to get thinned out by mixing it. I also stretch the recipe out and add way more veg to the point the seasoned yogurt is just a nice coating. Super yummy.

[katylaide]

This is similar to a way you've mentioned, Ozark Lady, but have you tried cucumbers sliced thinly and served in a mixture of soy sauce, vinegar and maybe a bit of ginger and chilli? It's how my mum always made them when I was little, I love it.

[wolfie]

my gosh, cucumbers have so many ways to be used:

soup
garnish
sliced thinly with chive cream cheese on little breads for tea sandwiches
make a sun dried tomato mix of cream cheese, top a thick round cracker and put a slice of cucumber on it
cucumbers and tomatos in italian dressing
cucumbers sliced lengthwise and dipped in ranch dressing
cucumber slices in ice water with mint is good, or make ice cubes that are festive
mix with tomotoes, corn and peppers for a salsa
use them as a fried green tomoto type of thing
put them on sandwiches for some crunch
put them in potato salad for some flavor
As a "cracker": Use thick slices of cucumber in place of toasts or crackers when serving dips or spreads such as hummus.

[Ozark Lady]

Wow,
I followed a link, and then found another link, and another... I was many links away, and yet still in the forum... ha ha
Lots of good info.
And I now know what DH and DD means... ha ha I was clueless.
I did arrive with one question... not clearly defined for me... I suppose I should go google...
What on earth is lacto-fermented pickles?
I have made sauerkraut is that what you are doing?
I found many interesting suggestions here.
I saved them in my Helpful Gardener Recipes file on my computer.
Thanks everyone!
I do like cucumbers, just had about run out of ideas.

[Tigerlilylynn]

http://gnowfglins.com/2009/06/03/lacto- ... and-beets/

I didn't know that term either.

"Traditional preservation of food was done without freezers or canning machines, through the process of lacto-fermentation. In this process, the sea salt and/or whey inhibits the growth of putrefying bacteria until enough lactic acid is produced to preserve the vegetables for many months. But, the lactobaccili which produce the lactic acid to preserve the vegetables do much more! They enhance the digestibility of the vegetables, increase vitamin levels, produce enzymes, offer antibiotic and anticarcionogenic substances, and support the growth of healthy flora in our intestines. My goodness, all of this from pickling! Compare that with today’s pickles, which offer nothing but pasteurized vegetables floating in an acidic brine of white vinegar."

[Ozark Lady]

Thanks,
I looked it up and it is similar to making sauerkraut.

I use the juice from sauerkraut in making my own version of v-8 juice... but you must use it is small quantities, in comparison with the other juices, and simply taste test until you get a juice that you like, with the lacto adding nutrition.

I bet the other vegetable juices would be similar, and perhaps not as strong flavored!

[mrsgreenthumbs]

I make a typical summer snack out of them mostly ... oh the name just is right there on the tip of my toung... UGH I hate that. Any way's we simply peel off strips of the skin, all the way around leaving some stripes of skin on then slice and place on a LARGE plate, if it's not big enough you will be fighting over it! Then sprits generously with lemon and salt and tobasco sauce.

darn my mouth is wattering.

Open a bottle of beer, turn on the game, and enjoy!

This year I'm growing my own cucumber's for the first time and trying my hand at pickling. I am a HUGE pickle eater, I would eat a jar and drink the juice if you let me for breakfast lunch and dinner! My favorite snack!

[Ozark Lady]

I like pickles. I remember going to the drive-in and buying a huge pickle to sit and eat while you watch the show!

I am picky about my pickles though... Some kinds I adore, and some kinds I hate.

Somehow, all the ones that I make at home, are the ones that I don't like, and are soggy. So, if someone has a great recipe for truly crisp pickles... I would love it.

I like dills and sweets. I do not like bread and butter or kosher.
And I surely do not like soggy ones.

I like lots of the relishes made with cucumbers... need recipes!

[tedln]

I grow lots of cucumbers simply because I love them cold in a lot of ways. I only use a small part of what I grow. Our chocolate labrodor eats two or three per day. He barks at me when I'm in the garden until I throw him one.

We used to have some neighbors who spent a lot of time in Germany. The wife was a native German. The first time I hung a WalMart bag of veggies on their fence, they left a smaller bag on my fence. It contained some packets of dried herbs, but I couldn't read the instructions which were written in German. The neighbors told me to mix the packet with vinegar and oil and marinate the cucumber slices. They were the best cucumbers I've ever eaten. The neighbors moved out of state soon after and I have no idea what was in the packet.

I also order lots of deep fried dill pickles in restaurants instead of French fries. I don't know if that little culinary delight has made it all over the country yet.

Ted

[Ozark Lady]

We have fried dill pickles in one restaurant here.
We ordered it as a novelty. It didn't go over very well.

I have a German national as a daugher-in-law. I will try to remember to ask her what that could be... can you recall anything about it?
So, I have a clue what to tell her?

Her parents are in Germany, so we could get it,,, with some decent clues.

[tedln]

Yes, some restaurants do a terrible job with the fried pickles. Others do a great job. I've seen a few serve fried pickle spears. They are horrible. The best are hamburger type pickle slices dipped in a highly seasoned batter and dropped into the fryer. They usually serve them with a dipping sauce like creamy ranch dressing or horse radish sauce.

I'm pretty sure the German spice packet had some dill weed in it. It was basically just a mixture of dried herbs. I think it also had some white ingredient like dehydrated milk or cheese. It may have been dehydrated blue or roquefort cheese, but it was all dry in a foil packet. My neighbors parents still lived in Germany and her mother kept her supplied with the herb packets. They were very happy to have a good supply of garden fresh cucumbers instead of those wax coated cukes you get in the market.

Ted

[mrsgreenthumbs]

We make those from time to time, obviously it's not a light snack but soooo good. We make them with chicken strips and I put out a bowl of olives both green and black and we have finger food night. It's terribly indulgent and fun . As far as I knew it was just one of our Okie meals, I had no idea it had German root's.

[Ozark Lady]

Since America is mostly a nation of immigrants, most all of our foods, that are not native American foods, are rooted in some other country.

But, like most things, it is an Americanized version of the traditional food.

My grandparents are Dutch, German, Irish, and native American, so all the familiar food to me, would have likely been passed to them, from their parents, and on back to the original country. But, we change it to fit the foods we have on hand, or personal likes and dislikes.
So, what started in another country, gets changed through necessity, and then it becomes a family heirloon recipe based on personal choices.

I love stuffed peppers, but those are hard to feed to little kids. One day while planning to make them, I thought why not chop the pepper and just add it to the filling, then use the tomato sauce.... make it like a hamburger helper type dinner. So, I did, and it worked great. My kids loved it, and "unstuffed peppers" is now a family tradition. One son is not fond of tomatoes, so he omits the tomato juice, another son doesn't like onions, so he doubles tomatoes and omits onions... A family tradition is born, and reborn for each household.

I do the same thing with stuffed cabbage leaves... those leaves are a pain in the neck! So, I simply make the filling, but chop the leaves into it, then I add the rice last, and tomato juice, boil a second, and cover it to steam it done... not as pretty. But faster, easier and tastes great. My version of Skillet Dinners...

[tomf]

We grow lemon cucumbers and they are sweet and do not give you hart burn. We make pickles and relish out of them. We eat them fresh also.

[mrsgreenthumbs]

I know just what you mean ozark lady. In one branch of my family (I'm native American, Mexican, white, Irish and Puerto Rican) We have been raised with something we call Enchilada pie. It's basically all the same ingredient's:

Flour tortillas
Red enchilada sauce (canned)
ground beef (or shredded beef or chicken or you can omit the meat all together)
Cheese, loads of cheese
onion and whole black olive's
Then just layer... you fry the tortillas till slightly cooked through, dip in the sauce, make a layer of tortillas till the bottom is covered then add meat and cheese and onion's (fine chopped) and a few olives you can freeze them raw or bake them up either way they go FAST.

But I still get those looks from people wondering what the heck a Enchilada PIE is lol. I say:

"Think of it as the Mexican version of Lasagna!"

[tedln]

We grow lemon cucumbers and they are sweet and do not give you hart burn. We make pickles and relish out of them. We eat them fresh also.

I once grew lemon cucumbers and they were very good. The main reason I grew them was to get peoples reactions. I had planted them at the base of English Ivy we had growing up a brick wall of our home next to the driveway. In the middle of summer, it looked like I had a wall of lemon ivy. I got a lot of interesting comments.

Ted

[tedln]

Ozarklady,

I enjoy cooking and I am always trying different things. Since I have no idea what my cultural heritage is, I can't claim a cultural preference. I like foods from East Indian to oriental to Mexican.

I make a dish I call smoked sausage & potato casserole. Like everything else I cook, I never make anything the same way twice. I made it a couple of nights ago and for the first time, I used red wine and some Chili powder in the dish. While we were eating, I asked my wife if she preferred the new version or the last version I cooked. She said she loves my latest version, but I think she would say that about anything I cook so long as I keep cooking.

Ted

[Ozark Lady]

You guys, and gals are making me hungry!

I also love lots of different foods, and food styles.

I learned about fried radishes on this forum, and it is now a regular on our table, my hubby really likes them... To me they remind me of parsnips.

I was hoping to find some great cucumber ideas, and I am getting so much more! I love it.

Lemon cucumbers are sweet? Wow, my hubby thinks cucumbers remind him of melons, and he would like to try adding them to like a fruit bowl, with cantaloupe, watermelons, celery, you know the usual. Does anyone have a recipe that could be adapted to that idea?

I thought perhaps with a sweet yogurt type sauce? What spices if any?
Oh it sounds like it has to be lemon cucumbers...

[tedln]

Lemon cucumbers are sweet? Wow, my hubby thinks cucumbers remind him of melons, and he would like to try adding them to like a fruit bowl, with cantaloupe, watermelons, celery, you know the usual. Does anyone have a recipe that could be adapted to that idea?

I thought perhaps with a sweet yogurt type sauce? What spices if any?
Oh it sounds like it has to be lemon cucumbers...

Yogurt sauce sounds like a good balance with cucumbers, possibly with a little dill weed in it.

I agree with your husband about the taste comparison of cucumbers and melons. I once was cleaning my garden at the end of a season and found a huge (probably 2 lbs) cucumber hidden under some foliage. It had been on the vine so long that the skin had turned a bright yellow color. While removing it, I broke the skin. The flesh under the skin resembled some type of melon. I tasted it and it tasted like a melon. It tasted nothing like a normal cucumber. I think cucumbers we eat are simply immature melons of some variety. I guess it is like the green bell peppers we eat. They are simply immature red sweet peppers.

Ted

[Tigerlilylynn]

I've only made savory yogurt sauces before but I imagine vanilla and mint are good with spring/summer flavors and cinnamon and nutmeg with fall flavors. Citrus probably plays well with both. This fruit salad is more of a marinade but could be adjusted to add with yogurt kinda like a lassi.

Macerated Winter Fruit
Acidity in the lemon juice, grapefruit, and pineapple keeps the apple from browning, so you can prepare this colorful side up to a full day in advance.
Yield
8 servings (serving size: about 2/3 cup)
Ingredients
• 1 cup diced fresh pineapple
• 1/2 cup apple juice
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick
• 2 cups diced Fuji or Gala apple (about 2 apples)
• 1 cup pink grapefruit sections (about 1 large grapefruit)
• 1 cup seedless red grapes, halved
• 1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries
• 1 tablespoon Grand Marnier (orange-flavored liqueur)
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Preparation
Combine diced pineapple, apple juice, honey, and cinnamon stick in a small saucepan over medium heat; cook for 2 minutes or until honey dissolves, stirring frequently. Pour into a large bowl. Add apple and remaining ingredients, and toss gently to combine. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or up to 24 hours. Discard cinnamon stick.
Nutritional Information
Calories:
98 (3% from fat)
Fat:
0.3g

[Ozark Lady]

Wow, that sounds good.
And with those ingredients as a base, a person could mix and match and try other things.
Hey, I wonder if we could have a recipe challenge?
Where we select a plant or several, and invent a recipe. Then all the members sample it, made themselves, and rate them?
Maybe different categories? Like the melon challenge, the cucumber challenge etc. No matter who wins, with us all experimenting, and sampling each others creations... we all win... And since this is a garden forum, it wouldn't be just any old cucumber etc. But certain kinds of vegetables, and variations by using other kinds...
Hey mods, can we do that? Have a summer long, at least recipe challenge divided into categories? What an awesome way to try new things!
Then if I have a recipe for something that I didn't grow and see it at a farmer's market, I would know what to do with it... try it, and then know if I want to grow it next year, or in the next succession planting.
Knowing the many ways to prepare our garden offerings, will really enhance our gardening.

[tedln]

I believe they have a recipe forum available where they probably would want any recipes posted.

I wrote a cook book a few years ago. I didn't write it to publish, just to share. Our kids told me they would be extremely angry with me if I died and they didn't have some of my recipes. Since I rarely use recipes when I cook, our daughter followed me around the kitchen for a couple of days measuring everything I used while I made some dishes. Most of those recipes are in the book including my barbecue sauce recipe she wanted most.

It also has some funny recipes in the game section which I haven't tried. I may still have time to try some jellied moose nose, or seal flipper, or possum, or raccoon before I run out of time. I'm just waiting for the right opportunity.

It is in MS word 2003 version. It has twenty chapters or categories totaling about 1.2 megs. In other words you will receive twenty files.

If you want a copy, p.m. me. Don't put your email address on here.

Ted

[mrsgreenthumbs]

I second that fantastic idea Ozark lady! Talk about broadening our horizons! I was having a hard time this year deciding what I wanted to grow, like I thought hard about chard but Iv never eaten it and never ever knew how to serve it so a recipe for something new would be totally fun! And to bring back my own take on the new treat (or even report if it's kid and husband friendly) I think you just had a fab idea!!!

Hey, Mod....

-Big brown eye's and a pouty bottom lip-

Please....

Here's to hoping Ozark Lady! That would make this forum really fun!

[Tigerlilylynn]

Thirded. I just impulse bought green kohlrabi and rainbow chard and have no clue how to prepare either.

[tomf]

Cut up fresh vegetables into bite size chunks; use any combination of cucumbers, bell peppers, celery, onions, mushrooms or any vegetable you want. Add to tomato juice and spice to taste. This makes a cold soup and it is low in calories and highly good for you.

[applestar]

I had to revisit this thread -- I now have two veggie bags of cucumbers... AFTER making 2 pints (my usual small batch) of Bread and Butter pickles. I thought I only had 1 bag but forgot about the harvest from yesterday which filled the 2nd bag.

Some forgotten ideas here. Recipe Challenge? Is it too late? Anyone can kick it off -- start a thread!

... and Tedln you may be hearing from me.

[Ozark Lady]

A challenge idea still sounds great.
I didn't manage to get any cucumbers to grow this year, I did get them to put on 5-6 leaves before dying out.
But, in all fairness, I only planted 3 hills, I just don't find cucumbers useful enough to devote much space to.

[applestar]

I decided that I most immediately wanted the cucumber, tomato, egg salad. But I was out of mayonnaise... then I thought -- why not make it myself? I got the Alton Brown's Good Eats recipe (something technical like mayo has to be AB ) and now, I'm enjoying my salad. I added a bit of my own Bread and Butter pickles brine, fresh Yamato cukes (after scoring the skin with a fork and massaging with salt to get the bitterness out) and some Polish Cream Sausage tomato juice, and I'm having the salad with red, orange, and yellow (Moskowich, AAA Solano, Yellow Bell) tomatoes.

[Ozark Lady]

This is funny, in another forum, someone just talked about making mayonnaise and wanted to know how to make it into Miracle Whip.
They were talking secret ingredients etc. Mayo and Miracle Whip are the same thing, same ingredients, difference is: more oil in Mayo, you make mayo then just double the lemon juice and sugar, and you can substitute half the oil, and wallaaa... you have Miracle Whip. It is quite easy to play with the recipe until you fine tune it, just to your liking... like you just did!

[tinlizzy]

One old timer who didn't like cucumbers gave me this recipe. Ya peel'm and slice em add onions if you like then pour sugar/vinegar mixture to the concoction and walk out on the back porch and giv'm a sling. That was his way of serving fresh cucs.
I prefer cucs peeled, sliced and sliced onions with sweented vinegar pour over and refrigerate for a few hours but I don't throw them off the porch. good on sandwichs too.