The cukes are coming on strong although the vines look a bit sickly. As my father-in-law would say “my cukes got the blight this year.” Just the leaves look bad though not the fruit.
Anyway, I usually get a good harvest of cukes and there’s just not THAT much you can do with them. Put em in salads of course, or the old stand-by; cukes & onions in sour cream and vinegar dressing. You can eat em raw, sprinkled with salt & pepper or dipped in your favorite dressing. After awhile though you start getting a wee bit tired of them. A couple of years back I came across this recipe and I just can’t seem to get enough of it!
COLD CREAMY CUCUMBER SOUP
You’ll need:
1/2 stick butter
4-5 good size cukes
1 good size sweet onion
1 1/2 -2 cups chicken broth
tsp salt
dill weed dried and fresh
8oz sour cream
1/2 plain yogurt (optional) You could use all sour cream
You’ll also need a good size food processor for this one… or a good blender would probably work too.
Peel, seed and chop into (1 inch or so) pieces 4-5 large cucumbers
Peel and chop 1 large vidalia or another type sweet onion
Saute onion and cucumbers with a half stick of butter until tender, use a deep dutch oven type pot.
Transfer sauteed and tender cukes & onion into food processor and pulse until smooth. (It will kinda look like grits when you’re done)
Since your pot is now empty, put one and a half cups of chicken broth in it along with a teaspoon of salt, and a tablespoon of dried dill weed and then add back into the pot your processed cukes & onion and stir.
Simmer at a low boil for about 5 minutes or so and remove from heat. Add 1 cup of sour cream and a half cup of plain yogurt and whisk until it dissolves into the warm mixture. Put it into a large bowl and chill for a 4-6 hours. It’s best really cold!
Garnish with fresh chopped dill right before serving.
I had enough fresh dill for my first couple of batches, but I think these guys are going to get the rest…
They are Tiger-swallowtail caterpillars so I’ll just go ahead and let them feast. I’ll sow more dill seed right away though!
Anyone else got good recipes or ideas for cucumbers?
