Cucumber salad advice

My favorite vinegar for cucumber slices and onions is simply rice wine
vinegar and a little sugar.

"Jude" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

My favorite vinegar for cucumber slices and onions is simply rice wine
vinegar and a little sugar.

Damn that sounds good right now.

Andy said:

It's too hot to cook so I'd like to give that a try.

The Amish food stand at the Reading Terminal Market serves up the best
cucumber and onion salad. It's mild but very flavorful with perfect tang
and crunch but my memory and taste buds fail me.

I don't' know about the kind of vinegar to use.

Should I add some salad oil to the marinade before the fridge?

White or brown sugar?

Should I add in some minced garlic or raddish or something?

Here's a "picked over" recipe (after reading dozens):

3 medium english cucumbers peeled and sliced thin
1 medium red onion sliced thin
1 cup vinegar (white, rice, apple, balsamic? A mix of several?)
1/3 cup sugar (granulated or brown?)
1/2 cup water
Red pepper flakes to taste
Pepper to taste

Salt and sit the sliced cucumbers and onions in collander to drain.
Bring the vinegar, water, sugar to a boil, stirring. Let cool. Squeeze
moisture out of cucumbers and onions, put in bowl and pour liquid over,
add pepper flakes and pepper, toss and marinate in the refrigerator for
a couple hours. Drain excess marinade and serve. ?

I think I'm pretty close.

Any advice?

(Google being stupid, sorry if this is posted twice.)

It's not rocket science - we never put sugar in ours. Just half and
half vinegar (usually apple cider vinegar) and water, cucumbers, onion
rings, salt & pepper to taste, and sometimes dill seed if we had it.

N.

Andy said:

It's too hot to cook so I'd like to give that a try.

The Amish food stand at the Reading Terminal Market serves up the best
cucumber and onion salad. It's mild but very flavorful with perfect tang
and crunch but my memory and taste buds fail me.

I don't' know about the kind of vinegar to use.

White works just fine

Quoted message said:

Should I add some salad oil to the marinade before the fridge?

no

Quoted message said:

White or brown sugar?

white, but way way less than the recipe unless you are shooting for an
"industrial" quality result.

Quoted message said:

Should I add in some minced garlic or raddish or something?

not usually found in this dish

Quoted message said:

Here's a "picked over" recipe (after reading dozens):

3 medium english cucumbers peeled and sliced thin
1 medium red onion sliced thin
1 cup vinegar (white, rice, apple, balsamic? A mix of several?)
1/3 cup sugar (granulated or brown?)
1/2 cup water
Red pepper flakes to taste
Pepper to taste

Salt and sit the sliced cucumbers and onions in collander to drain.
Bring the vinegar, water, sugar to a boil, stirring. Let cool. Squeeze
moisture out of cucumbers and onions, put in bowl and pour liquid over,
add pepper flakes and pepper, toss and marinate in the refrigerator for
a couple hours. Drain excess marinade and serve. ?

I think I'm pretty close.

Any advice?

Thanks,

Andy

"Andy" <q> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

It's too hot to cook so I'd like to give that a try.

The Amish food stand at the Reading Terminal Market serves up the best
cucumber and onion salad. It's mild but very flavorful with perfect tang
and crunch but my memory and taste buds fail me.

[snip recipe]
I use rice vinegar, little or no sugar. Also, I put a lot of salt on the
cucumbers, then rinse them with a lot of water and squeeze out excess, taste
and adjust salt. That wilts the cucumbers a little so the texture ends up
halfway between cucumbers and pickles.

Andrew

Nancy2 said:

It's not rocket science - we never put sugar in ours. Just half and
half vinegar (usually apple cider vinegar) and water, cucumbers, onion
rings, salt & pepper to taste, and sometimes dill seed if we had it.

N.

I've never made it with just vinegar dressing. I've always used sour
cream with vinegar to taste, a bit of sugar, celery salt and dill added
tot he cucumber and onion. Lately a bit of garlic also, ala tzatziki.
DH's grandmother's recipe, tweaked a bit.

gloria p

Puester said:

Nancy2 said:

It's not rocket science - we never put sugar in ours. Just half and
half vinegar (usually apple cider vinegar) and water, cucumbers, onion
rings, salt & pepper to taste, and sometimes dill seed if we had it.

N.

I've never made it with just vinegar dressing. I've always used sour
cream with vinegar to taste, a bit of sugar, celery salt and dill added
tot he cucumber and onion. Lately a bit of garlic also, ala tzatziki.
DH's grandmother's recipe, tweaked a bit.

gloria p

That works nicely too. Cukes/onion/sour cream/lemon or vinegar and a
couple chopped sprigs of dill is a Polish classic.

Jude said:

My favorite vinegar for cucumber slices and onions is simply rice wine
vinegar and a little sugar.

I agree. Rice wine vinegar is the vinegar to use for cucumbers
(daikon, and carrots, too).

-sw

I agree with rice vinegar. Note that some such products
have sugar in them. I try to buy the unsugared stuff.

Steve

I've got the white, apple, rice and balsamic vinegars. I'll use the rice
vinegar as suggested since I've NEVER opened the bottle or used it
before. Today is the day!

The seedless cucs have way more pulp than the regular ones (after
seeding). I think I'll cut it back to 2 of them for 1 medium onion.

Dill, I only have the dry version. Might sprinkle some in a bowl and
marinate that separately.

I read about topping with sour cream before serving, but the Amish
didn't serve it up that way. Maybe it's available as a topping if you
ask? At $2.00 for a small tub, it's a whole meal and not as fattening as
most everything else, which is why I like it.

Thanks for the advice.

All the best,

Andy

Andy said:

I've got the white, apple, rice and balsamic vinegars. I'll use the rice
vinegar as suggested since I've NEVER opened the bottle or used it
before. Today is the day!

I understand your original objective but can't help but point out that
with only the tiniest modifications you can turn your cucumber salad
into a sauce for grilled or poached salmon. Then you'd really have
something worth eating.

Mix well and let rest in refrigerator:

1 Cucumber, diced small
1/2 Cup sour cream
1 TB Mayonnaise
Salt
1/4 tsp dried dill, or 1/2 tsp fresh, chopped
1 tsp fresh lemon juice or white vinegar

Poach or grill some salmon, dress with this sauce. -aem

On Tue 30 May 2006 08:34:32a, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it Andy?

Quoted message said:

It's too hot to cook so I'd like to give that a try.

The Amish food stand at the Reading Terminal Market serves up the best
cucumber and onion salad. It's mild but very flavorful with perfect tang
and crunch but my memory and taste buds fail me.

I don't' know about the kind of vinegar to use.

Should I add some salad oil to the marinade before the fridge?

White or brown sugar?

Should I add in some minced garlic or raddish or something?

Here's a "picked over" recipe (after reading dozens):

3 medium english cucumbers peeled and sliced thin
1 medium red onion sliced thin
1 cup vinegar (white, rice, apple, balsamic? A mix of several?)
1/3 cup sugar (granulated or brown?)
1/2 cup water
Red pepper flakes to taste
Pepper to taste

Salt and sit the sliced cucumbers and onions in collander to drain.
Bring the vinegar, water, sugar to a boil, stirring. Let cool. Squeeze
moisture out of cucumbers and onions, put in bowl and pour liquid over,
add pepper flakes and pepper, toss and marinate in the refrigerator for
a couple hours. Drain excess marinade and serve. ?

I think I'm pretty close.

Any advice?

Thanks,

Andy

You've already had a scad of suggestions, but here's mine...

* Exported from MasterCook *

Cucumbers in Sour Cream

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 each large English cucumber
3/4 cup sour cream
2 tablespoon cider vinegar
1-2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 each small onion
1 teaspoon dried dillweed
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 Dash cayenne pepper
salt

Peel cucumbers, or score skins with a fork. Slice thinly. Slice onion,
separating into rings. Layer cucumbers and onion in a bowl, sprinkling
layers liberally with salt. Refrigerate 1 hour. Cover with cold water,
stir, then drain. Repeat. Drain well and pat dry. Return to mixing bowl.

Meanwhile, combine remaining ingredients. Add sour cream mixture to
cucumbers and toss to coat well.

Turn cucumbers into a covered dish and refrigerate at least 1 hour before
serving.

--

Wayne Boatwright

Andy said:

I've got the white, apple, rice and balsamic vinegars. I'll use the rice
vinegar as suggested since I've NEVER opened the bottle or used it
before. Today is the day!

The seedless cucs have way more pulp than the regular ones (after
seeding). I think I'll cut it back to 2 of them for 1 medium onion.

Dill, I only have the dry version. Might sprinkle some in a bowl and
marinate that separately.

I read about topping with sour cream before serving, but the Amish
didn't serve it up that way. Maybe it's available as a topping if you
ask? At $2.00 for a small tub, it's a whole meal and not as fattening as
most everything else, which is why I like it.

Thanks for the advice.

All the best,

Andy

You don't top it with sour cream you mix it in initially and give it a
day in the fridge.

The Amish version you get is the German version. The Polish version
would be with sour cream and some acid such as lemon or vinegar.

Andy said:

It's too hot to cook so I'd like to give that a try.

The Amish food stand at the Reading Terminal Market serves up the best
cucumber and onion salad. It's mild but very flavorful with perfect tang
and crunch but my memory and taste buds fail me.

I don't' know about the kind of vinegar to use.

Should I add some salad oil to the marinade before the fridge?

White or brown sugar?

Should I add in some minced garlic or raddish or something?

Here's a "picked over" recipe (after reading dozens):

3 medium english cucumbers peeled and sliced thin
1 medium red onion sliced thin
1 cup vinegar (white, rice, apple, balsamic? A mix of several?)
1/3 cup sugar (granulated or brown?)
1/2 cup water
Red pepper flakes to taste
Pepper to taste

Salt and sit the sliced cucumbers and onions in collander to drain.
Bring the vinegar, water, sugar to a boil, stirring. Let cool. Squeeze
moisture out of cucumbers and onions, put in bowl and pour liquid over,
add pepper flakes and pepper, toss and marinate in the refrigerator for
a couple hours. Drain excess marinade and serve. ?

I think I'm pretty close.

Any advice?

Thanks,

Andy

I do not like English Cucumbers for a really good salad. Try to find
long, thin regular very young ones, the ones that do not have the hard
seeds because they are too mature.

Slice them thinly on a mandolin or on the long slit of a hand grater,
the old fashioned kind.

Sprinkle some salt on the sliced cucumbers and let them rest until
they give up some ot the liquid. Drain them and squeeze out some more
with your hands.

Slice a small white or yellow (I do not like red ones for this) onion
very thinly and add to the cucumber.

Sprinkle with about 1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar. Sprinkle with a
small amount of freshly ground pepper, just a tiny bit. (I use white
pepper and not freshly ground, just right out of the little jar)

Pour a small amount of plain, white vinegar over the cucumbers, mix
and taste. Do not use oil for this kind of cucumber salad. If you
poured too much vinegar over it, dilute it with water. If you used
way too much, pour some off. Keep tasting, until it pleases your
palate. :o)

This is the cucumber salad I grew up with. We had no such things as
pepper flakes and I would never use that. Try it my way and see
whether you like that salad, made the Viennese way.

George said:

The Amish version you get is the German version. The Polish version
would be with sour cream and some acid such as lemon or vinegar.

How about an Eastern version. Not being a big vinegar fan, I'd like a
good recipe for a yogurt based cucumber salad. Just bought a lovely
Eng cuke and am getting an itch to make a hot curry something or other.

nb

Puester said:

Nancy2 said:

It's not rocket science - we never put sugar in ours. Just half and
half vinegar (usually apple cider vinegar) and water, cucumbers, onion
rings, salt & pepper to taste, and sometimes dill seed if we had it.

N.

I've never made it with just vinegar dressing. I've always used sour
cream with vinegar to taste, a bit of sugar, celery salt and dill added
tot he cucumber and onion. Lately a bit of garlic also, ala tzatziki.
DH's grandmother's recipe, tweaked a bit.

gloria p

I grew up on a farm in Iowa in the 40s. My (German) grandma always
made it like I described - no sour cream, no yogurt, just
vinegar/water. That's the way I've always liked it best, and there are
really no calories at all.

N.

On Tue 30 May 2006 12:22:25p, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it notbob?

Quoted message said:

George said:

The Amish version you get is the German version. The Polish version
would be with sour cream and some acid such as lemon or vinegar.

How about an Eastern version. Not being a big vinegar fan, I'd like a
good recipe for a yogurt based cucumber salad. Just bought a lovely
Eng cuke and am getting an itch to make a hot curry something or other.

nb

That would be a Cucumber Raita, of sorts, as raitas are usually made with
chopped cucumber.

2 slicing cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and grated or chopped
1 small onion, sliced and separated into rings
1 cup plain nonfat yogurt
1 teaspoon chopped fresh mint leaves
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

--

Wayne Boatwright
_____________________________________________________________

"How can a nation be great if it's bread taste like Kleenex?"

Julia Child

Margaret Suran:

<recipe clipped and saved>

Margaret!

I'll try your recipe. You're the first to mention "taste and adjust
flavors" before marinating this "salad."

I SHOULD marinate it in the fridge after settling on flavors, right???

Thank you.

Andy

On Tue 30 May 2006 12:12:25p, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it Margaret
Suran?

Quoted message said:

Andy said:

It's too hot to cook so I'd like to give that a try.

The Amish food stand at the Reading Terminal Market serves up the best
cucumber and onion salad. It's mild but very flavorful with perfect tang
and crunch but my memory and taste buds fail me.

I don't' know about the kind of vinegar to use.

Should I add some salad oil to the marinade before the fridge?

White or brown sugar?

Should I add in some minced garlic or raddish or something?

Here's a "picked over" recipe (after reading dozens):

3 medium english cucumbers peeled and sliced thin
1 medium red onion sliced thin
1 cup vinegar (white, rice, apple, balsamic? A mix of several?)
1/3 cup sugar (granulated or brown?)
1/2 cup water
Red pepper flakes to taste
Pepper to taste

Salt and sit the sliced cucumbers and onions in collander to drain.
Bring the vinegar, water, sugar to a boil, stirring. Let cool. Squeeze
moisture out of cucumbers and onions, put in bowl and pour liquid over,
add pepper flakes and pepper, toss and marinate in the refrigerator for
a couple hours. Drain excess marinade and serve. ?

I think I'm pretty close.

Any advice?

Thanks,

Andy

I do not like English Cucumbers for a really good salad. Try to find
long, thin regular very young ones, the ones that do not have the hard
seeds because they are too mature.

Slice them thinly on a mandolin or on the long slit of a hand grater,
the old fashioned kind.

Sprinkle some salt on the sliced cucumbers and let them rest until
they give up some ot the liquid. Drain them and squeeze out some more
with your hands.

Slice a small white or yellow (I do not like red ones for this) onion
very thinly and add to the cucumber.

Sprinkle with about 1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar. Sprinkle with a
small amount of freshly ground pepper, just a tiny bit. (I use white
pepper and not freshly ground, just right out of the little jar)

Pour a small amount of plain, white vinegar over the cucumbers, mix
and taste. Do not use oil for this kind of cucumber salad. If you
poured too much vinegar over it, dilute it with water. If you used
way too much, pour some off. Keep tasting, until it pleases your
palate. :o)

This is the cucumber salad I grew up with. We had no such things as
pepper flakes and I would never use that. Try it my way and see
whether you like that salad, made the Viennese way.

I like cucumber salad made several different ways, but I really like it
made the way you make it. A friend's mother who was born and raised in
Germany always made it this way, and I always loved it.

--

Wayne Boatwright
_____________________________________________________________

"How can a nation be great if it's bread taste like Kleenex?"

Julia Child