Saturday, July 25, 2009

fruits of labor: esther's cottage farm swedish cucumbers


i have been getting tons of cucumbers in my produce box, perhaps you have a similar problem or dont know what to do with all those cucumbers growing in your garden? here is a delightfully fresh and easy recipe - it is an adaptation of my great-grandmothers recipe for swedish cucumbers, but ive punched it up a bit.
this would be really fun and unexpected at a summer bbq!

the recipe that follows is for 1lb of cucumbers but as you will see it can be easily increased to accommodate more.

1lb of cucumbers
1 1/4 cups of water
1 cup of white sugar
1/2 cup of white vinegar
1/4 tsp of salt
3 tbsp of parsley finely chopped
1/8 cup of sliced red onion

combine water, white vinegar, sugar, salt, parsley in a large bowl

the easiest, most efficient and i think nicest way to do this next step is on the mandolin, (a rather ingenious kitchen accessory i must say. if you don't own a mandolin they are rather inexpensive the one i have cost about 8$ though some can be as pricey as 100$ or over) if you aren't equipped with a mandolin, slice the cucumbers and red onion as thinly as you can -

peel the cucumbers and then slice them on the mandolin right over the liquid mixture then do the same for the red onion until you have approx. an 1/8 cup in the mixture (you don't want too much or all you will taste is onion). stir it all together and let it sit at least 2 hours - though i recommend over night or even 2 days ahead as they get better the longer they sit in the brine.

this is also a nice light accompaniment to meat or served over fresh sliced summer tomatoes. once you taste these im sure you will think of many things to do with esther's swedish cucumbers -
enjoy

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