# Cucumber Salad



## luckytrim (Mar 11, 2012)

Cucumber Salad
  2 medium Cucumbers, thinly sliced
  1 small white onion, thinly sliced
  1 cup white vinegar
  1/2 cup water
  3/4 cup white sugar
  1 tablespoon dried dill, or to taste
  DIRECTIONS:
  Combine cucumbers and onion in a large bowl. Add the vinegar, water and sugar to a
  saucepan and cook over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, and pour over the cucumber
  and onions. Stir in dill, cover, and chill at least 1 hour.


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## Claire (Mar 11, 2012)

This is an old family stand-by.  Strangely enough, I've had it prepared by both Japanese and European (German, I think) cooks.  I put it out as a first course every Thanksgiving, in little bowls with a few boiled shrimp on top, a sort of shrimp cocktail.  Probably the only time I do "courses", just to buy myself time to make the gravy.  I do use a pinch of salt and a lot of ground black pepper, but it is a very vinegar-y salad, which is good for digestion!


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## justplainbill (Mar 11, 2012)

No salt?  Looks like you might like using a Benriner.


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## luckytrim (Mar 11, 2012)

no salt - yes, a mandolin, until I took off the tip of my pinky..... gave it (the mandolin) away.


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## justplainbill (Mar 11, 2012)

Mandolins can be dangerous.  My wife has shredded a few safety gloves.  They seem to work better if one uses a light touch and stop cuttining whne the item being cut gets too short to maintain a tight grip.


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## luckytrim (Mar 11, 2012)

I don't need a uniform cut for this dish anyway... Granny didn't need it either;
I remember giving her a "Veg-a-Matic" for her b'day once; figured it would speed up her canning prep......
After she passed, it was found in the attic, un-used, unopened ....
The cukes always get eaten, even with the "rustic" slice.


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## CraigC (Mar 11, 2012)

Sub some Persian cucumbers if you're not a fan of the large seeds.


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## JMediger (Mar 11, 2012)

Yum!  Tastes of summer!  If you drained that brine off and reboiled 2 more times you'd have my grandmother's (and now my) recipe for the refrigerator pickles that get us through the winter.


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## Claire (Mar 12, 2012)

justplainbill said:


> Mandolins can be dangerous.  My wife has shredded a few safety gloves.  They seem to work better if one uses a light touch and stop cuttining whne the item being cut gets too short to maintain a tight grip.


The big thing I learned (on top of having a metal mesh glove) is to not trim the ends of things like cucumbers or squash, just clean and slice/julienne, using the stem end as a handle.  When you get close to the end, toss it.  I'm thinking, though, that maybe my new food processor will enable me to retire my Bron mandoline, and maybe even my armor plated glove.


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## CWS4322 (Mar 13, 2012)

luckytrim said:


> no salt - yes, a mandolin, until I took off the tip of my pinky..... gave it (the mandolin) away.


If you have one of those "Norwegian" cheese slicers, it works great for making really thin cucumber slices. I make a similar recipe, only I don't heat the brine and use either fresh dill or French tarragon.

http://www.nordicmaid.com/proddetail.asp?prod=Bjork-508-15


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## Andy M. (Mar 13, 2012)

You guys seem to have issues with mandolins and losing body parts to the sharp edge.

Doesn't anyone use the safety device that comes with every mandolin?  It's there to protect your fingers.

It looks like this (it's the black and red knobby part in this picture) and is guaranteed to eliminate cut body parts.


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## luckytrim (Mar 13, 2012)

Wow ! That's a nice one.. what's the brand, and what's on the board ? asking just for perspective on size of the thing..........


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## Andy M. (Mar 13, 2012)

luckytrim said:


> Wow ! That's a nice one.. what's the brand, and what's on the board ? asking just for perspective on size of the thing..........




Mandoline Slicer


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## merstar (Mar 13, 2012)

Here's another great cucumber salad - a little spicy:
Thai Cucumber Salad:
Thai Cucumber Salad Recipe - Food.com - 93536


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## Dizario (Mar 30, 2012)

Nice recipe, very simple and tasty! I know another one simple dish. All you need is just cucumbers, sour cream and solt. Cover cut cucumbers with a sour cream, add solt, mix ingredients  and left a bowl with a salad for 5-10 minutes.


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## Aunt Bea (Mar 30, 2012)

This is a great salad but, I have been reluctant to make it because of the amount of sugar it contains. 

Does anyone have a feel for how much of it really gets absorbed?


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## taxlady (Mar 30, 2012)

Aunt Bea said:


> This is a great salad but, I have been reluctant to make it because of the amount of sugar it contains.
> 
> Does anyone have a feel for how much of it really gets absorbed?



I have no idea. The Danish recipes for cucumber salad vary wildly. There could be more water and less vinegar and definitely, you could use much less sugar.

I think the sugar is mostly to make the vinegar less sour. I use cider vinegar which is less harsh tasting and don't add much sugar at all.


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## taxlady (Mar 30, 2012)

Andy M. said:


> You guys seem to have issues with mandolins and losing body parts to the sharp edge.
> 
> Doesn't anyone use the safety device that comes with every mandolin?  It's there to protect your fingers.
> 
> It looks like this (it's the black and red knobby part in this picture) and is guaranteed to eliminate cut body parts.



Of course I use the grabber/safety device.

My issue is with the crappy quality of my mandolin  It doesn't make uniform slices (some of them are half or 3/4 slices) and it takes more effort than using a chef's knife.

I like the description "rustic slices".


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