lots of cucumbers....what to do?

[mandi]

hi,
have planted cucumbers: marketmore this year plus gerkins and am over run with cucumbers and little spiney gerkins ...i have just learnt the secrets of a good pickled gerkin but was wondering if anyone had a good preserve recipe for cukes?
maybe cucumber chutney? or relish?
thanks

[JILLY JACKSON]

Hi mandi,I too have had loads of cucumbers,we ate and ate them.Got a daughter with giant land snails!or You can always sell them.Sorry ,cant be more helpful.

[amandaandherveg]

I'm jealous, I've not picked one cucumber yet and my gherkins ar sloooooooow!

[borage]

I've only picked 3 marketmore so far this year and if I am lucky will get another 2 ( 3 plants in total)

[sewer rat]

Cucumber Pickle & Cucumber and Mint soup

I have preserved loads of cukes with a cucumber pickle recipe and also made batches of cucumber and mint soup which can be eaten hot or cold.

Cucumber Pickle
4 LARGE CUCUMBERS
3 MEDIUM SIZED ONIONS
50G SALT
570ml WHITE WINE VINEGAR
450g SOFT BROWN SUGAR
1/2 TSP GROUND TURMERIC
1/4 TSP GROUND CLOVES
1 TBSP MUSTARD SEEDS

Wash cukes and slice very thinly. Peel onions and do the same. Place these in layers in a large bowl sprinkling each layer with salt. Weigh down with a plate or similar and leave to stand for 24hrs.

After 24hrs, pour away the liquid and rinse vegetables thoroughly two or three times.

Put vinegar, sugar and spices in stainless steel pan and stir over medium heat til sugar is dissolved. Add cukes and onions and bring to the boil. Boil for a couple of minutes then remove vegetables (use strainer or slotted spoon) and reduce the liquid syrup for a further 15 or 20 minutes.
Fill warmed and sterilised jars with the vegetables and cover with the reduced syrup. Seal immediately.


CUCUMBER AND MINT SOUP
3 LARGE CUCUMBERS (PEELED AND GRATED)
1 TBSP BUTTER
1 ONION (FINELY CHOPPED)
1 LEEK (FINELY SLICED)
1 TBSP PLAIN FLOUR
1 LITER VEGETABLE STOCK
2 BAY LEAVES
BUNCH OF MINT (FINELY CHOPPED)

Melt the butter in a large pan then add the leek and onion and fry gently until soft. Add the cucumber, mix well then add the flour. Cook gently stirring for 1 - 2 minutes. Add the stock and the bay leaves, bring to the boil then simmer for 15 minutes.Remove the bay leaves and add the mint. Put the soup through a blender Simple !!

[mandi]

thanks i'll try the soup and chutney recipes....
funny thing about these cucumbers is i planted 2 plants in gro bags which they hated both plants are spindly and not producing...the ones going crazy 2 marketmore and 3 gherkins are just planted on the plot without any soil prep atall, just black plastic (old compost sacks cut opan) underneath and with the lead shoot partially trained up canes....anyhow more recipes please!!!

[mandi]

thanks rat, just made a batch of the cucumber pickle looks fantastic...how long do you wait to try it? a month or 3 months?

[Two_Sheds]

Get some guinea pigs, they love cucumber. and all your other surplus veg/stalks/weeds

[CarolineW]

Another pickle to try

I've got cucumbers coming out of my ears too! I'm thrilled with them - the first time I've ever grown cucumbers.
I found a bunch of recipes to use cucumbers on recipezaar.com, but haven't actually got beyond this "bread & butter pickle" recipe Bread and Butter Pickles Recipe | Recipezaar
It is absolutely fantastic. And I don't like pickles, I was just making them for my husband. A visiting friend, who also doesn't like pickles, tried them, and requested a jar! So I'm making as many of these pickles as possible, for us and for various friends. Hence I haven't tried any other recipes yet. I will try that mint and cucumber soup, though, in an earlier post. That sounded nice too.

Incidentally, I don't add the full amount of sugar - American things are usually too sweet for me. I add 1.5 cups (3oo mils in measuring jug).

Hope this helps.
Caroline

[T-lady]

I agree with Caroline, the Bread and Butter pickle is lovely. And, oddly enough, I thought the same about it being a bit sweet too! (although what's with the cracked ice bit of the recipe?)

[sewer rat]

Mandi - I'd give it about three weeks minimum, then have a try. I love it.

[CarolineW]

I've made your soup recipe twice now, sewer rat. It's fantastic! I posted it on Recipezaar so that others can benefit from the recipe too. Sorry - couldn't remember your name as I reached the critical posting point, so I just credited it to this forum.

Thanks so much for sharing this recipe, it's now a firm family favourite.

Caroline

[Comfreyfan]

Found this Ken Hom recipe recently, thought it looked worth a try:

BBC - Food - Recipes - Garlic chicken with cucumber

[CarolineW]

I agree with Caroline, the Bread and Butter pickle is lovely. And, oddly enough, I thought the same about it being a bit sweet too! (although what's with the cracked ice bit of the recipe?)

I dutifully used the ice the first time, wondering if it had something to do with keeping it crisp or something. The 2nd time I couldn't be bothered, and it was just as good. The 3rd time the kitchen was hot as I was baking, so I used them in case that was the point of the ice - that it was simply to stop the cucumber degrading in the heat (after all, our American cousins actually have heat and sun during the summer - unlike us!). Didn't bother cracking the ice that time, though - just slung some ice cubes in.

They seem to be great whatever I do or don't do with the ice

[AndrewD]

Hi Mandi, I have too many cucumbers and green tomatoes. I haven't done any pickling before, but I have just done a google search. I found a good site for recipes; Recipes @ CDKitchen.com, Dinner Recipes, 30 Minute Meals, and this recipe for cucumbers;

Chopped Cucumber Pickle

Makes 5 pints

50 small or 25 large cucumbers
3/4 cup salt
3 medium-sized vidalia or other sweet onions
3 large green sweet bell peppers, cored, seeded
1 tablespoon mustard seed
1 tablespoon celery seed
3 cups vinigar
4 cups granulated sugar

Directions:
Wash and grind cucumbers, using medium chopper. Now sprinkle with salt and let stand over night. Drain and squeeze out juice; using culander. Grind onions and peppers. Add to ground cucumbers. Add mustard seed, celery seed, vinigar, and sugar. Bring to boil and boil 10 minutes. Put in jars and seal.

It says, on a scale of 1 to 5 it is a difficulty level of 3.

Judging by the spelling, I assume it is American and so I am not sure what they mean by grind, just chopped or crushed to a paste? It would also have been useful if they had suggested the maximum storage time.

Hope you find this useful. This site looks good for all kinds of recipes.

Regards AndrewD