Ingredients.—2 or 3 cucumbers, pepper and salt to taste, flour, oil or butter. Mode.—Pare the cucumbers, and cut them into slices of an equal thickness, commencing to slice from the thick and not the stalk end of the cucumber. Wipe the slices dry with a cloth, dredge them with flour, and put them into a pan of boiling oil or butter; keep turning them about until brown; lift them out of the pan, let them drain, and serve, piled lightly in a dish. These will be found a great improvement to rump-steak: they should be placed on a dish with the steak on the top. Time.—5 minutes. Average cost, when cheapest, 1d. each. Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons. Seasonable.—Forced from the beginning of March to the end of June; in full season in July and August.
CUCUMBERS à la Poulette.
Ingredients.—2 or 3 cucumbers, salt and vinegar, 2 oz. of butter, flour, ½ pint of broth, 1 teaspoonful of minced parsley, a lump of sugar, the yolks of 2 eggs, salt and pepper to taste. Mode.—Pare and cut the cucumbers into slices of an equal thickness, and let them remain in a pickle of salt and vinegar for ½ hour, then drain them in a cloth, and put them into a stewpan with the butter. Fry them over a brisk fire, but do not brown them, and then dredge over them a little flour; add the broth, skim off all the fat, which will rise to the surface, and boil gently until the gravy is somewhat reduced, but the cucumber should not be broken. Stir in the yolks of the eggs, add the parsley, sugar, and a seasoning of pepper and salt; bring the whole to the point of boiling, and serve. Time.—Altogether, 1 hour. Average cost, when cheapest, 1d. each. Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons. Seasonable in July, August, or September; but may be had, forced, from the beginning of March.
CUCUMBERS, Pickled.
Ingredients.—1 oz. of whole pepper, 1 oz. of bruised ginger, sufficient vinegar to cover the cucumbers. Mode.—Cut the cucumbers in thick slices, sprinkle salt over them, and let them remain for 24 hours. The next day, drain them well for 6 hours, put them into a jar, pour boiling vinegar over them, and keep them in a warm place. In a short time, boil up the vinegar again, add pepper and ginger in the above proportion, and instantly cover them up. Tie them down with bladder, and in a few days they will be fit for use.
CUCUMBERS, an excellent way of Preserving.
Ingredients.—Salt and water, 1 lb. of lump sugar, the rind of 1 lemon, 1 oz. of ginger, cucumbers. Mode.—Choose the greenest cucumbers, and those that are most free from seeds; put them in strong salt and water, with a cabbage-leaf to keep them down; tie a paper over them, and put them in a warm place till they are yellow, then wash them and set them over the fire in fresh water with a very little salt, and another cabbage-leaf over them; cover very closely, but take care they do not boil. If they are not a fine green, change the water again, cover them as before, and make them hot. When they are a good colour take them off the fire and let them cool; cut them in quarters, take out the seeds and pulp, and put them into cold water; let them remain for 2 days, changing the water twice each day, to draw out the salt. Put the sugar, with ½ pint of water, in a saucepan over the fire; remove the scum as it rises, and add the lemon-peel and ginger with the outside scraped off; when the syrup is tolerably thick, take it off the fire, and when cold, wipe the cucumbers dry and put them in. Boil the syrup once in 2 or 3 days for 3 weeks; strengthen it if required, and let it be quite cold before the cucumbers are put in. Great attention must be paid to the directions in the commencement of this recipe, as, if these are not properly carried out, the result will be far from satisfactory. Seasonable.—This recipe should be used in June, July, or August.
CUCUMBERS, German Method of keeping for Winter use.
Ingredients.—Cucumbers, salt. Mode.—Pare and slice the cucumbers (as for the table), sprinkle well with salt, and let them remain for 24 hours; strain off the liquor, pack in jars, a thick layer of cucumbers and salt alternately; tie down closely, and, when wanted for use, take out the quantity required. Now wash them well in fresh water, and dress as usual with pepper, vinegar, and oil.