I promise to relish your recipes... (rolls drum)

August 24, 2009 6:05 AM

Planning on harvesting my cucumbers and I need the hive mind for relish recipes.

Aside from about 10 good sized cucumbers I also have more Hungarian hot peppers than I know what to do with. I was thinking about turning it all into relish. Some dill, some sweet, maybe some hot? Thank you all in advance... Any ideas are welcome.

posted by Mastercheddaar to food & drink (6 answers total)

Here's how to make cucumber sushi rolls. 

You so *won't* regret it. Making the rice and hunting down the seaweed - the whole thing will be a blast, esp for any kids (friends, family, neighbours) who might wanna help.

Consume slightly chilled and dipped in a little soy sauce, with a dash of wasabi. Yummy! 
posted by n o i s e s at 6:24 AM on August 24, 2009

What about tzatziki sauce?
posted by runningwithscissors at 6:31 AM on August 24, 2009

If it were me (and it was me about 6 weeks ago), I'd want to make something that will keep indefinitely. This means you want to pickle, either with salt or with vinegar.

Two favorites of mine (copied from previously posted comments):

Indian-spiced pickles

Pickling cucumbers, sliced, packed in to jar(s)

And for each jar:

3-4 cloves of garlic
1/8 tsp black mustard seed
1/4 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp cumin seed
1/4 - 1/2 tsp fenugreek leaves
1 2-inch piece of ginger
1 - 2 hot chilis, sliced

In a pot, heat approximately 1 cup of vinegar (white or cider, 5% acidity) per jar, along with 1 teaspoon of salt per cup of vinegar. Bring to a boil. Pour over cucumbers and spices. Place lids on jars. Let sit overnight, then put in fridge. Or, if you're doing a lot, process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes, following the usual procedure.


Cucumber kimchi

Dice up cucumbers. Toss in a colander with a teaspoon of salt. Let sit for 30 minutes. Rinse, squeeze, put in jar. Add grated ginger (lots), a chopped serrano or jalapeno, some sambal or sriracha if you REALLY like it hot, and a slurp of vinegar. Shake. Let marinate. Keeps in fridge indefinitely.
posted by mudpuppie at 9:20 AM on August 24, 2009 [1 favorite]

Cucumber and tomato salad with feta sprinkled on top.

You could garnish with the peppers as well.
posted by bardic at 9:35 AM on August 24, 2009

Just a note about that "cucumber kimchi" recipe - don't serve it to Koreans, or if you do, at least don't call it kimchi. Korean kimchi doesn't use sambal or sriracha or vinegar as ingredients. Spiciness comes from red pepper, and the sourness comes from a natural fermentation process.

When Koreans think of cucumber kimchi, they're typically thinking of "oi sobagi" - this video from Maangchi illustrates the procedure well. There's also "oijangajji" or salted cucumbers, which I think might be closer to the Western idea of pickles. "Oi sobagi" does not have the keeping power of pickles, but "oijangajii" does, as it's incredibly salty.

Some Korean restaurants and households will serve something similar to the aforementioned "cucumber kimchi" that has vinegar, but it's usually referred to by a name that translates to "dressed cucumber" and is not considered a kimchi at all, and is intended to be eaten when it's prepared, not kept indefinitely.
posted by needled at 10:27 AM on August 24, 2009

Please try some sweet cucumber pickle. My cucumber plants didn't make it this year, but they would have been pickled, because it's like sending them to cucumber heaven where all their cucumber dreams and potential are realised. It's a slight variation on the Ballymaloe Cucumber Pickle recipe, and I find it's ok to sort of eye the quantities when you make it again because it's not baking or alchemy.

Slice them very thin without peeling, put in a container, add white wine vinegar (250ml per 1kg of cucumber) and white sugar (350g per 1kg cucumber), add a tbsp of salt, mix it, and give it a few hours. The vinegar should cover the cucumber. Eat with cheese, or with plain rice, or in complex sandwiches, or... It keeps about a week like this and is genuinely more delicious than you can imagine, if you love cucumber.
posted by carbide at 11:13 AM on August 24, 2009