GIve them away to neighbors and friends. Many people like fresh cukes. I even make cucumber sandwiches. Sliced thick, spread mayo on bread, sprinkle the cukes with a little salt, add a sprig of fresh dill weed and you have a nice summer cooler..

I made a potato, mushroom & cucumber soup last night, It almost tasted like a clam chowder.
I made a flour gravy with chicken boulion for the base. I peeled & diced 5 potatos and cooked them in 2-3 cups of water, then mashed them with a fork and added potato & water mixture to the gravy. I pealed & diced 2 cucs, 1/4 of and onion, and 5 large mushrooms that I fried in olive oilwith a couple teaspoons of dill weed and some sea salt & pepper till soft then added it to the other mixture. I added milk till it was a med thick consistancy. I let it lightly simmer for 1/2 an hour.

Carrot and Cucumber Vichy
1 large cucumber
250g new carrots
15g butter or margarine
pinch of sugar
large pinch of salt
1 dessertspoon chopped parsley
pepper

Peel the cucumber, cut in half lengthwise, then cut across in 1 cm slices. Blanch in boiling salted water for 1 minute, drain, refresh and set aside. Peel and quarter the carrots and put in a pan with butter, sugar, salt and enough water to cover. Cook until tender (about 10 minutes) with the lid on. Take the lid off the pan, continue cooking until the water has evaporated; add the prepared cucumber and parsley. Season with pepper. Toss the vegetables carefully until coated with the glaze.

Baked Cucumbers
4 cucumbers, peeled and quartered, lengthwise
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon crushed dill seed
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1 teaspoon salt

Place a layer of cucumbers in the bottom of an 20x20x5cm baking dish. Dot with half the butter. Mix together the dill, pepper and salt. Sprinkle half over the cucumbers. Add a second layer of cucumbers, dot with butter, and sprinkle with remaining seasonings. Bake uncovered at 200C for 1 hour or until done. Stir cucumbers lightly once, pushing the top layers to the bottom and lifting the bottom cucumbers to the top. Serve hot. Mixed herbs may be used instead of dill seed.

Crunchy Cucumber Spread
250g cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup soured milk or buttermilk
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon grated onion
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup finely chopped cucumber

Combine all ingredients except cucumber, mixing until well-blended. Add cucumbers. Chill for several hours.

Cucumber Almond Sauce
3/4 cup heavy cream or sour cream
2 tablespoons vinegar or lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded, and cut finely
slivered almonds
2 teaspoons finely chopped chives or dill, optional

Beat cream until stiff. If the cream is sweet, add lemon juice slowly. Season the sauce with salt and paprika. Add cucumbers and almonds to the sauce. Add herbs if desired. Serve cold with aspics, mousses, cold fish or meats.

Cucumber Ketchup
ripe cucumbers
1 red capsicum, chopped
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup chopped onion
4 cups vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cloves
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Peel enough cucumbers to make 2 litres after seeds and soft centres have been removed. Add onion, capsicum, and enough water to prevent sticking. Cook slowly, stirring frequently, until tender. Add remaining ingredients. Cook slowly, stirring frequently, until thick.

Cucumber Marmalade
2 cups finely-chopped cucumbers
4 cups sugar
1/2 cup lime (or lemon) juice
2 tablespoons grated lime (or lemon) peel
1/2 bottle liquid fruit pectin
colouring as desired (eg. beetroot jucie, blueberry juice)

In a large saucepan combine cucumbers, sugar, juice and peel. Mix well, add colouring, boil one minute over high heat, stirring constantly. Remove from stove, stir in pectin. Skim off foam, stir and skim 5 minutes to cool a bit. Ladle quickly into jars and seal.

Cucumber Salsa
1 cup sour cream
1 cup yoghurt
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup chopped coriander leaves
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded and coarsely grated

Mix all ingredients. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours.

Stuffed Cucumbers (2)
4 medium cucumbers
pinch salt
500g minced beef
1 tablespoon vinegar
60g bacon, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 cup water
1 tablespoon cornflour
vinegar, salt and sugar to taste

Peel cucumbers and cut in half, scooping out the seeds. Rub with salt and vinegar. Fill with the meat mixed with seasonings and put the halves together fastening with a string or baking needles. Brown the bacon and onion in the butter in a deep frypan. Add the cucumbers; fill the pan with hot water and cook until they are soft. Remove cucumbers, season and thicken the gravy with cornflour.

Stuffed Cucumber (3)
1 straight cucumber
125g cream cheese, softened
1/2 teaspoon dried onion flakes, crushed
1/2 teaspoon dried dill
paprika

Score cucumber all around by scraping from top to bottom with fork tines. Cut ends off and scoop out seeds from centre. Mash cheese with a fork. Add onion and dill. Mash together. Stuff cucumber. Wrap and chill. To serve, slice and sprinkle with paprika. May be served as is or on a cracker.

Minted Egg and Cucumber Pie
shortcrust pastry base, unbaked
250g cream cheese
milk or cream
3 tablespoons finely chopped mint or apple mint
6 eggs
1 cucumber, unpeeled, thinly sliced
salt and pepper to taste

Blend cream cheese with a little milk or cream and spread over pastry base. Cover with cucumber slices. Break the eggs onto the cheese and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with mint. Bake at 180°C until pastry is golden and eggs are set (about 30 minutes). Serve chilled.

Ahh, and we thought cukes were just for eating and pickling..

Americans don't think of cukes as something that gets cooked. But many other cultures do cook them; everything from poaching, to baking, to frying. Here's one recipe we kind of like:

Stewed Cucumbers

3 cukes, sliced thick
2 onions, sliced thin
6 slices bacon
1 stick butter
3 tbls flour
1 tbls dry mustard
Salt & pepper to taste
Water

Salt cukes heavily, place in collander to drain at least 1/2 hour.

Cook bacon untio crisp, reserving grease.

Rinse cukes. Pat dry. Fry cukes and onion in bacon fat (adding more if necessary) until browned. Drain on paper towels. Pour fat from pan.

Retun cuke mixture to pan. Add 4-6 tbls water, the mustard, butter, and flour. Let stew until tender.

This is, admittedly, kind of bland. But you can ring the changes with herbs and spices to kick it up a bit. Wouldn't hurt, for instance, to mince a chili pepper and fry it with the cukes and onions.

Cold cucumber soup (raw) is incredible. I usually search for a few recipes and then wing it, but basically you put some peeled cucumbers in the blender with sour cream, buttermilk, dill, garlic, and salt. It's one of my favorite luxuries.

Melissa

Have to confess that the first thing I thought of was somewhat obscene, re: what to do with cucumbers. ;-)

When I have too many to eat straight up or in salads (tomato cucumber is a favorite) I make gazpacho. That is a cold spicy Spanish soup, lots of recipes out there for it. I vary the ingredients according to what I have, besides a lot of cucumbers you need tomatoes or tomato juice, onion and garlic, bell peppers, olive oil, cider vinegar. salt, pepper, spices like cumin or dill or parsley or whatever you have and like. You puree most of it but leaves some chunks of vegies to float in it. Add as much hot pepper as you like. We love it. You can put in zucchini, lettuce, almost any fresh vegies that you have lying around.

Marcia

This one, from the Time-Life book Fresh Ways With Vegetables, is perfect for this time of year:

Cucumber Mousse w/Gazpacho Sauce

2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and cut into 2" long strips
2 tbls unflavored gelatin
3/4 cup chicken or vegetable stock
1 cup plain yogurt
Juice of 1 lime
6 drops hot sauce
2 scallion whites, chopped
2 scallion tops, chopped for sauce
1 Jalapeno, seeded
1 tbls chopped cilantro

sauce:

2 lb tomatoes, peeled, seeded, chopped
1 tbls olive oil
Juice of one lime
4 drops hot sauce
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tbls cilantro, chopped

In a small bowl, soften the gelatin in 1/4 cup of the stock until it is spongy. In a small saucepan, bring the remaining stock to a boil. Add the gelatin mixture to the stock and stir to dissolve the gelatin thoroughly. Set the gelatin mixture aside.

Puree the cucumbers, yogurt, lime juice, hot sauce, scallion bottoms, Jalapeno, and cilantro in a food processor. Add the gelatin mixture and blend. Pour the mixture into a 2-quart mold and chill until firm--at least two hours.

To make the sauce: Mix the tomatoes, oil, lime juice, hot sauce, garlic, reserved scallion tops and cilantro in a bowl. Refrigerate until needed.

At serving time, run a blade along the edge of the mold to loosen the mousse. Set the mold shallow hot water for 30 seconds, then invert the mousse onto a serving platter. Spoon the sauce around the mousse, and on top if you like.

Chilled cucumber salads with mint and yogurt at ubiquitous to the Mediteranian basin and the Mid-East. Here's one from Algeria for:

Mined Cucumber Salad

1 large seedless cucumber
1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 tbls minced fresh mint
1 garlic clove, minced
Salt & pepper to taste

Cut the cucumber into thin slices and place them in a glass salad bowl. Mix the remaining ingredients and pour them over the cucumber slices. Cover and chill one hour.

The following could be thought of as a fresh pickle. But it's actually a salad, quite popular in central Europe:

Cucumber Salad with Paprika Dressing

Peel, halve lengthwise, and seed 4 cucumbers. Slice them thinly and toss with 2 teaspoons salt in a colander. Let them drain at least 30 minutes.

In a bowl combine 1/3 cup mild white-wine vinegar, 1 small onion, thinly sliced, 2 teaspoons sweet Hungarian paprika, 1 teaspoon dill seed, and 1/2 teaspoon each of sugar and white pepper. Let the dressing stand for at least 30 minutes.

Rinse the cucumbers and dry them well with paper towels. Toss them with the dressing. Chill the salad before serving.

How about Candied Cucumber Rings. I only sampled them for the first time yesterday but loved them and started making them today. If you like those cinnamon apple rings you'll like these too the taste is identical. I won't post the recipe because it is fairly long and I'm not a great typist but if you google it you will find several .

Marty,

A copy and paste can help. Just drag your mouse over the text to highlight it, then hold down the ctrl key and press C. This will copy the highlighted text to the computers 'clipboard', then place the mouse cursor at the point where you want the added text to be, and press/hold the ctrl key again, and press the letter V. This will paste the highlighted text into the post. I do it all the time here, and because Linda Lou has some very long posts, I bet she also does this copy/paste operation with ease.

Dilled Gazpacho!!

6 medium ripe tomatoes, finely chopped
2 cucumbers, peeled and finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1 large lemon, juiced
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill

In a large bowl, stir together tomatoes, cucumber, onion, bell pepper, and jalapeno pepper. Season with lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.
In a blender or food processor, puree half of the mixture until smooth. Return to bowl, stir in dill and mix well. Cover and chill for at least one hour before serving.

I've had some of this in the refrigerator most of the summer, it's that good. I vary the amount of tomato a bit, depending on what I have available. I also use bottled hot sauce instead of the jalapeno.

Certainly no imagination here. Simply peeled and sliced into a bowl of ice water with some kosher salt added. Last night's supper.

So impressed with this variety. Found this one yesterday afternoon hiding between my deck trellis and the 18 gal container being grown in. In the midst of an extended heat wave and thought it would be terrible. Been picking at aprox 12" length and could not believe this one had no trace of yellowing, hollowing out or bitterness. Mild, tasty & burpless. Gardenwebbie that sent me seeds says doesn't attract cuke beetles and grows to 24".

My all-time fav cukes are Birgit (can't find seeds anymore) and Cool Breeze.

Now I'm thinking could have used cheese and raw sweet onion on each cuke slice. Any ideas along this line?

jt

Sounds good. A little chevre, maybe, and the red onion?

A sprig of fresh dill weed goes well too.

What about those herbed new cheeses, like Boursin and Allouette? They'd work well on a slice of cuke, I reckon.

And follow Ken's advice for a little extra kick. Cukes have a great affinity for dill. Also for fresh mint.

Here's something I put together tonight that worked out well. I had a half pound of shrimp left over from a different dish, along with some truck from the garden.

Measurements are approximations, cuz I didn't measure anything.

Shrimp & Cucumber Stir Fry

1/2 lb medium shrimp
Half a small onion
1 small (4-5") cucumber, peeled, halved, seeded and sliced
into half-moons.
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
Small pinch cayenne
1 tbls soy sauce
1/2 cup Vermouth
1 tbls sesame seeds, more or less
2 tbls cooking oil, divided

Heat 1 tbls oil in a wok. Quickly stir fry the ginger and cayenne, about 15 seconds. Add shrimp and stir fry until almost cooked through. Remove from wok and reserve.

Heat balance of oil. Stir fry onions until transluscent. Add cucumbers and stir fry 1-2 minutes. Return shrimp to wok. Add soy sauce and stir fry until liquid is absorbed. Add Vermouth and stir fry until liquid is absorbed.

Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve hot as a first course.

I made ebmeyer's dilled gazpacho last night. Anyone knows how well this freezes?

Malon

A few days ago, my dad brought over a few Armenian type cukes from my grandmother's house...They were super sweet and fabulous. We made agua de pepino (literal translation=cucumber water...I think that cucumber juice OR punch is a more appropriate translation). Anyhow, filled a blender about 1/2-2/3 full of white tea (my modification...I used Peat's Snow Leopard. A mild green tea works well too), 1/2 a chopped long Armenian type cuke, sugar to taste and enough ice to blend so that the drink is slushy...I must say, this drink is yumyum. especially, since I live in 100+F dry heat NorCal.

I wonder if you can save frozen pureed cucumber juice (w/o sugar) for use later. Any thoughts? I am going to give a call into my local Master Preservers Group.

Malon:

I've read a few recipes that assure you that gazpacho can be frozen if you peel the tomatoes first. Here's an example:

Cucumber Yogurt Soup

There are many variations on this cold soup. This one is basic and good. You don't necessarily need both dill and mint. One or the other is fine. Some recipes call for ground cumin. You might think of this as a liquid salad. It's refreshing during cucumber season.

4 medium/large cucumbers
4 cups plain yogurt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fresh mint
1 teaspoon fresh dill

Peel and quarter the cucumbers. Slice off the seedy core and discard it. Chop the cumubers finely.

Combine all ingredients and chill one hour or more.

Serve cold as an accompaniment to spicy dishes.

Jim

Shesalittlebear, you do realize that Armenian cukes actually are melons, rather than cucumbers? They are naturally sweeter than cucumbers, for that reason.

What to do with too many cucumbers. I don't know the outcome of freezing the cucumber water, just try a little, then see what happens. It won't be a safety issue, of course, just depends upon whether or not you like it. I would think adding the sugar would keep it better when frozen .
FREEZER PICKLES
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Glass jars are preferable for packing these pickles.
Once thawed, they should be stored in the refrigerator and
used within a reasonable length of time. A disadvantage of
these pickles is the apparent increase in toughness of the
cucumber skin.

Freezer Pickles 1

25 medium, unpeeled cucumbers
10 medium onions
5 pounds sugar
3 cups vinegar (5% acidity)

Slice cucumbers and onions very thin and add cold water
to cover. Let stand 12 to 18 hours in the refrigerator.
Heat sugar and vinegar to boiling; cool. Drain cucumbers
and onions very well and pack into freezer container
(preferably glass jars). Pour cooled sugar-vinegar
solution over pickles, leaving 1-inch head space. Freeze
immediately.

Salt is not used in the above recipe so it is a good
choice for persons on a low-sodium diet.

Freezer Pickles 2

25 medium, unpeeled cucumbers
8-10 medium onions, sliced
1/2 cup salt
Ice water to cover
5 cups sugar
3 cups white vinegar (5% acidity)
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped (optional)

Slice cucumbers 1/8-inch thick. Combine cucumber
slices and onion slices. Cover with the salt, ice water and
place (covered) in the refrigerator for 48 hours. Mix
sugar, vinegar, and garlic and bring to a boil; cool. Drain
pickles very well. Loosely pack pickles into containers.
Pour sugar-vinegar solution over pickles, leaving 1-inch
headspace. Freeze immediately.

Freezer Pickles 3

2 quarts sliced cucumbers
1 onion, sliced thin
2 tablespoons salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup vinegar (5% acidity)

Combine cucumbers, onion, and salt. Place refrigerator
for 2 hours; drain well. Mix into containers, leaving 1-
inch headspace. Freeze immediately.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Can you make the refrigerator/freezer pickles without using onion? Is it a significant ingredient? I see it in just about every recipe.... Just curious (but I did just pick 30 cucumbers this evening!).

I don't see why you can't leave out the onions. I don't normally care much for onions in things.
It is just a taste preference in this.
I know, we go out to eat at Sweet Tomatoes. Most all their salads have onions. That ruins them for me ! Just like bell peppers in most things, I don't like them.

I like Linda_Lou's Freezer Pickles #1 recipe. Similar to what I use for refrigerator pickles except I use 50/50 sugar and vinegar and only heat the vinegar just enough to dissolve the sugar before cooling.

Yesterday tried what turned out to be a great combination. Threaded a cuke slice, Vidalia onion piece, a single cube of cheddar cheese, a ham cube and a Sungold tomato onto a cut up bamboo skewer. Dipped in the new extra thick Wish-Bone ranch dressing with some Jailhouse Fire hot sauce mixed in. Wish had taken a picture and will do so next time.

Sliced cucumbers, sliced onions and sour cream. This is simple but so very delicious.

I have six big fat cukes right now. Planted 4 varieties and some have none yet, just blossoms, while a few plants are getting big cukes. Plan to can these right now, even though I don't have a lot of them. It will be a half sour that I will be doing. Using a little Mrs. Wages or Ball dill pickle mix, fresh dill seed and weed, as well as a few whole garlic cloves. Its just enough for a single half gallon jar. They sit on the counter for just 24 hours, then get a small dash of vinegar and into the fridge with them to be enjoyed all the way through winter.