9 Things to do with a Cucumber (Madam!)

I've just realised that today is National Cucumber Day in Britain. I had no idea, why does no-one warn you?  I've never heard ...

 “51 days to Cucumber Day” 

... or similar on the news.  To celebrate here are all the good ideas I can think of, suddenly, for these delicate fruit.

Thai Cucumber Salad with Roasted Peanuts

60ml fresh lime juice
1½ tbsp nam pla (fish sauce)
1 fresh hot red chilli
2 tsp minced garlic
1½ cucumbers – halved, seeded and thinly sliced
1 red onion – thinly sliced
3 tbsp chopped salted roasted peanuts

~   Whisk together the first 4 ingredients.
~   Toss with the cucumber and onion.
~   Put in a pretty dish and sprinkle with the peanuts.

Rasta Salad

The bright colours of this salad, red, green & gold are, of course, the signature colours of the Rastafari Movement as seen on their flag depicting the Lion of Judah.

~   Mix together 4 handfuls of tender lettuce leaves, ½ a fresh pineapple, diced,½ a cucumber, seeded and cut into julienne, 1 red pepper cut into slender julienne, 1 bunch spring onions – green parts only, sliced diagonally.

~   Squeeze over the juice of 1 lovely lime and toss to coat.
~   Taste and season bearing in mind, if you wishto be authentic, that Rastas don’t take salt!

Lightly Pickled Cucumber

This is my favourite way to prepare cucumber, see here for details (and for some timely info on starting, maintaining and enjoying Rumpot/Rumtopf.

Raita OR Tzatziki

These two sauces, Indian and Greek respectively, are very similar. Although you can just use finely chopped fresh cucumber if you use Lightly Pickled Cucumber it will stay crisp, have more flavour and won’t water down the yogurt although it might be inauthentic! 

~   Stir chopped or lightly pickled cucumber into yogurt (plain – not strawberry!)
~   For Indian Raita flavour with fresh mint, chilli powder and cumin to taste. 
~   For Greek Tzatziki add lemon, garlic, mint or dill and a little olive oil and in this case it would be rude not to use Greek yogurt!

Pennsylvanian Dutch Cucumbers

1 cucumber
1 medium onion

120ml sour cream
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
pinch of sugar
black pepper
1 tbsp chopped fresh chives

~   Prepare and salt the cucumber as for Lightly Picked then rinse and dry well.
~   Toss together with the onion. 
~   Dressing - mix together the rest of the ingredients and season to taste.
~   Fold the dressing through the cucumber and onions just before serving.

Sugar Snap Peas & Cucumber in Mint Vinaigrette

1 thinly sliced cucumber
a good handful of sugar snap peas – topped and tailed and maybe sliced diagonally - up to you!
1 tbsp olive oil
pinch sugar
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp chopped fresh mint
salt and pepper

~   Sauté the cucumber and snap peas together in the olive oil together with the sugar till al dente (or, to put it another way, crisply tender).
~   Off the heat stir in the rest of the ingredients and season to taste.
~   Serve warm with lamb, for instance.

Cucumber & Citrus Vodka Granita

2 cucumbers – peeled, seeded, chopped and then puréed
300ml simple syrup ~ see below
2 tbsp citrus vodka

~   Stir all together.
~   Freeze in a shallow metal pan stirring and crushing lumps with fork every 30 minutes till the mixture is firm.
~   To serve scrape into flakes with a fork and pile into pretty glasses.

 Garnish a Pimms

   

   Happy Eyes

Put a cool slice of cucumber on each eye and relax in a prone position to soothe, refresh reduce dark circles and puffiness.

Cheer up your Cucumber

They do say that you can make refresh your cucumber and make it last longer by placing the stalk end in a small container of water and standing it in the fridge.

Simple Syrup 

This is equal parts of water and sugar stirred together over medium heat till clear and then simmered for about a minute. Cool and chill till needed. This is the basis of many sorbet recipes, see Sorbets & Granitas by me for about 50 sorbet and granita recipes that use simple syrup.

Tweetables ...

~   9 Things to do with a Cucumber (Madam!)
~   How to Cheer up your Cucumber and other good ideas.

P.S.

In the UK I use this sort of cucumber ...

... which, when in foreign parts, I called a “Eurocumber”, to distinguish it from the ridge cucumber ...

... which is more common in the States.  This has a tougher skin than ours but if you remove that everything should be fine.

Six Deliciously Different Salads You'll Love this Summer!

It’s a bit in and out weather-wise here today but nevertheless I’m going to write about salad.  It is June after all!  Here are six of my favourites.

Peppered Steak Salad with 2 dressings! 

This is probably my most successful salad ever, it became so popular that people would order it even if it wasn’t on the menu! That didn’t really faze me because it is quick and easy and, as I always kept the trimmings when I prepared steaks, there were usually a few around. If not I cut up a steak and added the remainder to my collection.

steak or steak trimmings

salt

plenty of freshly ground black pepper

a little olive oil

salad leaves

Balsamic-Dijon Vinaigrette – preferably homemade

a little brandy

double dream

~   Cut the steak across the grain into strip about 5mm thick.

~   Toss salad leaves in a little vinaigrette to coat.

~   Season the steak with a little salt and then with lot of black pepper as this pretty well the point of the dish!

~   Heat the oil in a hot pan then sear the steak which will be all it needs to cook to medium-ish. Set the steak aside whilst finishing the sauce.

~    Add a tablespoon or so of brandy to the pan (carefully and if using gas do this away from the flame), add enough cream to make a small sauce and simmer for a minute or so till thick.

~   Arrange the dressed leaves on a plate, the steak on the salad and then drizzle with the sauce.

~   Eat immediately with good bread.

Roasted Carrot & Pecan Salad

A few months ago I “discovered” Chantenay carrots and the best thing I like about them is how lovely they are roasted – just topped and tailed, tossed with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and roasted, covered with foil, for about 45 mins then uncovered and cooked a bit more till caramelised.  

Roasted Chantenay carrots make a wonderful salad warm or cold tossed with a few toasted pecans and tender leaves and then drizzled with balsamic glaze. You can make this glaze yourself by boiling down balsamic vinegar to about a quarter of its volume and sweetening with honey but it is easier and less smelly to buy it.  Season with lots of freshly ground black pepper and crunchy sea salt.

Panzanella

This is a Tuscan salad made from bread, tomatoes and other good stuff.  Per person you need ...

1 tbsp olive oil
½ tbsp balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper

100g ripe tomatoes – coarsely chopped

half a small red onion

a little crushed garlic

1 slice of good country bread

~   Mix together all the ingredients except the bread mashing slightly so that the tomatoes release their juices.
~   Toast the bread till crisp, golden and maybe just starting to char a little!
~   Cool the bread, tear into pieces and stir into the tomato mixture.
~   Set aside for about 10 minutes, the aim is to have some of the bread soft and juicy and some of it still crisp.

According to Love Food Hate Waste we in the UK throw away 24 million (!!!!!) slices of bread a day. What is wrong with people?  See here for 7 more unusual ideas for leftover bread – and that’s just scratching the surface. In fact, see here for ideas and recipes for 450+ leftover foods!

Grilled Lettuce with Warm Bacon-Balsamic Dressing 

Serves 2

This is quite posh but easy!

1 little gem lettuce cut in half lengthwise

3 tbsp olive oil* plus a little extra

2 rashers of smoky bacon in small dice

½ tsp runny honey

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

a handful freshly grated Parmesan cheese

freshly ground black pepper

~   In a small pan cook the bacon in the 3 tbsp olive oil till it is crisp and golden.

~   Lift the bacon from the oil with a slotted spoon and set aside to drain on kitchen roll.

~   Allow the olive oil to cook slightly then stir in the honey and vinegar.

~   Set aside for a few minutes whilst cooking the lettuce.

~   Pre-heat a grill pan, griddle or frying pan to good and hot.

~   Lightly coat the cut side of the lettuce with fresh olive oil.

~   Season and cook cut side to the heat for a few minutes till turning golden.  Do not cook the other side.

~   Serve the lettuce cut side up, drizzled with the warm dressing and sprinkled with crispy bacon and parmesan.  Grind over a plentiful grind of black pepper.

*  As you may have realised this is really great, in a way, with bacon fat instead of olive oil.

Lemony Salmon Salad

This is good if you cook too much salmon as I often do – eyes bigger than my head syndrome. Not so much a recipe – more an idea. Make a simple lemon vinaigrette ...

90ml olive oil

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon caster sugar

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

salt and pepper

~  Put all the ingredients in a jam jar, put the lid on tightly and shake till combined.

~  Toss leftover or purpose cooked salmon into the dressing and chill for a few hours. 

~  Toss with diced ripe avocado and a little mayonnaise.

Add fresh herbs, a slice of lemon and a white wine spritzer and you’re laughing!

Blue Cheese, Sugar Spiced Walnuts & Pear Vinaigrette

.

For this one you need ...

a lovely blue cheese – I like St. Agur

salad leaves

pear vinaigrette

sugar spiced walnuts

Pear Vinaigrette

1 large almost ripe pear

150ml cider vinegar

2 tbsp runny honey

200ml olive oil

~   Peel, slice and cook the pear in the vinegar till tender and the vinegar has gone!

~   Put the pear in a liquidiser or food processor together with the honey and whilst running gradually add the olive oil till the dressing has emulsified.

~   Taste and season.

Sugar Spiced Walnuts

~   Toss all together to make a salad! 

Sorry I haven’t got a photo of this one but here's a nice one of Cornwall!

Lovely Summer Dessert

You know what would make a good dessert after one of these salads?  Ice cream, that’s what and I just happen to have written a book, Luscious Ice Creams without a Machine, on a cunning no churn ice cream recipe ...

Great preview here!

Delicious things to do with Roasted Carrots

Many years ago, probably when I was in my 40s,  I read "The Man Who Ate Everything" by Jeffrey Steingarten and thought "I want to be just like him when I grow up".  The thing that particularly attracted me was that as he was (and is) a food writer people were always sending him wonderful things to test and write about.  

Well I think it might have started happening to me too - a few weeks ago I was invited up to London (I live in Cornwall) to try a carrot; not just an ordinary carrot mind you, a Chantenay carrot.  I couldn't afford the trip but luckily a few days ago my real man brought home some bargain carrots of the very same race, I think he paid 35p instead of the full price of £1 but there was absolutely nothing wrong with them so I didn't use them for a few days.

Then I roasted them - just topped and tailed, tossed them with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and cooked alongside a roasting chicken.  They took about an hour or a bit more and for the first 45 minutes I kept them covered with foil, then uncovered them to caramelise. 

These were so delicious that even my real man liked them, so I got all inspired, did it again and had a play.

My ideas for Roasted Carrots ...

Glazed Roasted Carrots 

To make them even more special just before serving melt in a little honey and butter to make a little glaze.

Warm and Nutty Carrot Salad

This was the second thing I tried - I just tossed some of the smallest  carrots whole together with a few pecans and tender leaves and drizzled with balsamic glaze with is, of course, sweet and so perfect with carrots. This was my first attempt just to see what I thought. I added crunchy sea salt and black pepper, thought WOW and stopped there.  This is really good!

Roasted Carrot Dip 

Purée "leftover" roast carrots with something appropriate to make a dip. I had some leftover sour cream and onion dip and added some parsley but cream cheese, mayonnaise or even hummus would make good alternatives.

Roasted Carrot Vinaigrette

For this I used about 60ml olive oil and 20ml cider vinegar with 5 roasted and puréed Chantenay carrots.  I add a pinch of salt and sweetened with honey; about 2 teaspoons, and prettied it up a bit with some chopped parsley.

This is based on my genius vinaigrette recipe ~ read more, with lots of suggestions, here.

Creamy Roasted Carrot Soup

I use pretty well the same basic recipe for all my soups (and have written a book "SOUP (almost) the Only Recipe You'll Ever Need" about this "genius" recipe) and this was no exception. The basic idea is to cook an onion my favourite way and when tender add a sliced potato or two and just cover with stock or water. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat, cover and simmer till tender. Add your roasted carrots and cook a few minutes more. Purée, dilute with more stock, milk or cream to your ideal soup consistency then taste and season.  I added a few chunks of roasted carrot and some parsley for added poshness.

In other news ...

Talking of orange coloured bargains - take a look at these; 17 beautiful lilies. still in bud when we bought them, for just £1.  They lasted almost three weeks.

And here for your delectation is a car covered in grass (fake I presume) that I saw in Truro - I cut off the front of the photo to save the driver's privacy.