Gurkensalat 2.0

I love the name of this salad.  Clever Alice!  (Yes, I know it means 'cucumber salad' in German, but she has rung in a couple of changes.)  This is from Alice Zaslavsky's book Salad for Days.  Diligent readers will remember that Alice came to our local bookstore in 2023, and I made one of her cakes for the book launch of her previous book The Joy of Better Cooking.  It was delicious, and Alice was equally delicious :=)  

I made half of her recipe, as it was just for me and Mr P., but here is the full recipe below.  This is almost like a pickled cucumber dish, and as you know, you can't keep me away from a good pickled veg.!  I even made another jar of pickles the other day, as I still had one of these big boys in the fridge - or is that bad boys?  Or big, bad boys?  Take your pick :=)

I maintain that my mum was way ahead of her time, as she always did a very quick pickle of the cucumbers we had on our dinner plate.  She always used malt vinegar, and just soaked the cuke slices in the vinegar with a bit of salt and water for a while before dinner.  Mm, this brings back the memories of chunks of cheese, and grated carrot plus tinned beetroot slices ...  Oh, and iceberg lettuce of course!

ready for dressing

Serves 4-6 as a side:

ingredients:

40g./¼ cup currants  (I used half currants/half barberries)

2 Telegraph/Continental cucumbers (the long and thin ones)

1/4 red onion

1/4 tsp of sea salt flakes AND of caster sugar

Dressing:

130g./½ cup plain, thick yoghurt

juice of half a lemon

1 garlic clove, finely chopped or grated

1/4 cup parsley - yep, you guessed it - finely chopped

1 Tbs fresh coriander, chopped

1 Tbs dill, chopped (and a bit extra for garnish)

The Other Bits and Bobs (says Alice)

1 small or half a medium lemon

2 Tbs EV olive oil

freshly-ground black pepper

a scattering of toasted pinenuts - maybe 2 Tbs? (optional) 

Method:

Peel and slice your cukes finely, and slice the onion into very thin rings

Place the currants in a small bowl and pour over just-boiled water to cover; leave aside to get plump and moist (hehehe)

Your cuke slices and onion go into a medium bowl; throw on the salt and sugar, and leave 'em to get tasty for 5-10 minutes

Now make the dressing: Place the ingredients into a mixing bowl, and give 'em a good whisking. Add a bit of salt and pepper if you fancy

And decapitate that lemon; no, no, I mean cut off its top and bottom and peel every bit of skin and white pith from its citrusy little body

Slice (against the grain, says Alice) ever so finely into thin, thin discs - (my take is to halve or even quarter these discs so you don't end up with a big mouthful of ever-so-tangy lemon)

Here's where you get artistic: grab a pretty platter, and lay the cucumber and onion carefully (or not) over it - (you may have to drain them first)

Drizzle/spoon the dressing over the cucumber and onion, then place the lemon where you like, followed by the drained currants and the dill

Splash on some EV olive oil, and some freshly-ground black pepper, and scatter the pinenuts over it all, if using

I served this with some leftover chicken kebabs

Notes:

Notes?  Notes?  Nope, no notes today

slice 'em up!

arrange prettily on your platter

plated and ready to go

we had it with chicken kebabs

(Joining in with Jo Tracey from BKD Cookbook Club - Brookford Kitchen Diaries; this month's theme is healthy recipes!)

c. Sherry M.