CUCUMBERS: NOT JUST FOR SALADS

I know it's not time to plant cucumbers but I am always dreaming.  My dreams are fired by the seed catalogs.  This year we did not order fresh cucumber seeds.  Hopefully the ones we have will grow.  Even if they grow we have to plan a course of action against the "bugs".  Spotted cucumber beetles and Japanese beetles, and then there are the funguses and the powdery mildew.  Till then though I can plan what I am going to be doing with cucumbers picked fresh off the vine.  Yes, I am an optimist.

This winter I had a cucumber left over and it was a little over the hill and I wanted it out of the fridge.  I was cooking supper and I wondered how it would cook.  I sauteed a huge onion in a tablespoon of butter (it seems most recipes I do start with diced and sauteed onions.)  While they were cooking I peeled the cucumber and split it down the middle, scraped out the seeds.  I proceeded to cut the cucumber into 1/2 inch dice.  I put the diced cucumber in with the onions.  Kept the lid off the pan and increased the heat a little.  I cooked the cucumbers till they were fork tender.   At this point I put 2 rounded Tablespoons of flour in it and stirred  it through.  

The reason I put in the flour was to thicken the cup of chicken stock I was adding (have extra stock ready in case it is too thick).  I have a totally thawed 16 ounce pkg of frozen peas ready.  Before you add extra stock if it is too thick,  pour the package of thawed peas in with any liquid which melted off them.  Stir the peas through.  If your sauce is still to thick add some more Stock.

Adjust your seasonings and serve.  Any left overs re-warm well. 

You have just made a creamed dish with out adding too many fat calories because you only used a Tablespoon of butter for several servings.  The sauce stuck to the veggies instead of laying in the bottom of the bowl when you served yourself.  For us the dish was extremely enjoyable. 

What does a cooked cucmber taste like.  Start with the texture.  The texture is not like squash.  It didn't fall apart or get mushy when cooked.  It did not take on the flavor of the sauce or the other veggies.  It was a sweet taste like peas are sweet, but you knew you were eating a cucumber.  The cucumber takes on a translucent look when it is cooked.

A recipe from my garden to you.  I can't wait to try cucmbers 100's of ways.

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A blog mostly about quilting, but cooking, poetry, prose and a little gardening,

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Not a garden blog.  There are articles which have nothing to do with creating or gardening. 

There are blogs on the new born baby kittens we found and are mothering.  It is a blog where I will sometimes voice my opinions which will always be environmentally friendly.

 

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CUCUMBERS: WHEN THEY AREN'T COOL

I didn't know whether to include this article in this blog or my other blog, http://www.gloriouscreations.blogspot.com/ . 

I post recipes on both blogs.  The final decission

came down to our need for thoughts of spring and perusing the garden catalogs. 

It is cold and dreary with off and on rains in the St. Louis area.  Even my house feels damp.  Today I am organizing seeds, seeing which ones I want to use and making sure I have enough of those.  My mind is also thinking what to have for supper.  I am for sure going to have soup.  I'll break my arm patting myself on the back right now, I make really good soups.  Just ask me..lol.

 I ran to the fridge to see what was there that needed to be used up.  When I make un-planned soups I usually make them from what ever veggies are on their way to crossing over.  There on the shelf were two of those long hot house cucumbers.  They had gotten their ends froze from being on the wrong shelf.

Just recently I heard about cucumber bisque.  This is a soup served cold. I didn't think I was in the mood for a cold soup on a day like today.  I have cooked with cucumbers before, the resulting dish was excellent.  I decided to make a hot cucumber soup for tonight.

I cleaned the cukes, throwing the bad parts in the compost bucket.  Reached in the veggie bin, there was a bunch of celery that would be over the hill in the next week.  On the shelf was a plastic container that had accumulated the halves of onions I didn't need in other dishes.  A peek in the freezer revealed a bag of frozen peas that had about 10 ounces left in it.

I proceeded to assemble my soup.  I can't wait till supper to serve it.  My taste sample made me want to eat all I had prepared.

INGREDIENTS 

BASIC SOUP:

1 cup 1/4" diced celery

1 cup 1/4" diced onion (don't use red onion)

1 cup 1/4" cucumber (no seeds if you use regular cucumbers, do not peel)

Kosher salt

2 TBLS butter (you can use an oil with no flavor if you like)

1 can Swanson's chicken broth (Or home made with salt)

10 oz Frozen peas

BEFORE SERVING:

1 TBLS Butter

1/2 cup fine diced celery

1/2 hot house cucumber cut in 3/8" dice (do not peel)

Lemon Thyme (dried, rubbed, afterall it's winter right now)

Salt to taste

EQUIPEMENT

Heavy stainless pan (I used a 5 qt dutch oven)

heat proof rubber spatula

knives to slice and dice

blender

BASIC SOUP:

1.  In 2 TBLS Butter saute'  diced onions, celery, and cucumber (sprinkle with about 1/4 teas salt)  in your stainless pan till the oinion is soft and translucent.  Do not brown.

2.  Pour your can of broth in the pan and turn up the heat and simmer covered for about 3 minutes.  Turn off the heat and leave it for about 3 minutes. 

3.  Pour into your hot broth the package of frozen peas.  Stir until the peas are defrosted. (do not apply more heat or cook in any way)

4.  Have your blender ready and put the contents of your stainless steel pan in the blender bowl.  (You can use a food processor too)  If your blender is not large enough do it, blend in small batches.  You want the contents thoroughly pureed. 

BEFORE SERVING:

Preheat your creamed soup bowls in a 200 degree oven (Or microwave them filled with hot water till the bowl is hot)

1.  Use your cleaned stainless steel pan, Saute' the fine diced celery till aldente', add the diced cucumber and and saute' till tender.  (you can cover the pan and finish them.) 

2.  When the veggies are saute'd add the pureed soup (being mine was stored in the fridge all afternoon I brought the soup back up to serving temp in the microwave.  I didn't want to sorch it in the pan or cook away the fresh taste.)  Add salt and lemon thyme to your taste.  I didn't add the lemon thyme I was in a hurry and forgot. 

The soup was very thick.  I could have added at least another 8 ounces of broth.  BTW...If you want vegitarian I would say add plain water and some salt.  I wouldn't add Veggie broth because it would add too many other vegetable flavors and muddy the flavor of the soup. 

With the addition of the other 8 ounces of broth; this amount of soup could serve 4 easily.

The flavor of the soup was outstanding.  Very spring and green tasting. I imagine the soup could be made with green zucchini too.  It was thick and satisfied my taste buds making them think they had indulged in cream soup.  In my other blog is a recipe for herb bread that would compliment this soup.  If you want to make it decadent, add a dollup of sour cream.

While eating the soup I thought a nice addition  to the basic soup would be a cooked potato blended in and a diced cooked potato added before serving. Crisp bacon bits might be good too.

If you try this quickie soup I hope it is as enjoyable for you as it was for us.  I will be posting my garlic soup recipe later this week. It's a fast to make soup too. It goes great with the herb bread.  In fact all the soups seam to be attracted to Herb, LOL.