Tuesday, November 29, 2011

The Simple Cucumber Sandwich

The humble cucumber.



We use it in salads. We pickle it. We munch it. We dip it. We take it for granted in so many ways...

And did you know that cucumbers and melons are BOTH curcurbits? And that if you plant your cukes or pickles too close to melons, they can cross and you get cucumbers that have a melon scent and slightly sweet taste????

:)

Not exactly a bad thing, right? Except no one wants to buy a MELON that tastes like a cuke. Somehow turnabout is not fair play in this instance!

So:

Cucumber sandwiches are a big hit around here whenever we host a party. A tea. A shower. A gathering. A wake....  The trick is to use fresh bread...

Really deliciously soft and chewy fresh bread. Do not skimp on this. Trim the crusts from the delicious bread... because their texture is all wrong for cucumber sandwiches. Trust me on this. I know things about cucumbers, Lily.  (In the Line of Fire, Clint Eastwood to Renee Russo)


If you don't have time to make bread... And I usually don't.... try a good store brand like this:



We use a dill type dip that I make from a package of um... dill dip.  :)  It's from Tastefully Simple and it works great and you should always, always, always use Hellman's Mayonnaise and you know why. Because it tastes GREAT.

ADDENDUM BECAUSE MISSY IS SMART:

Dill Dip Recipe:

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup sour cream
  • 3/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 teaspoon Beau Monde ™ seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon dried dill weed
  • 1 teaspoon dried parsley
Put all ingredients in bowl. Mix well. Allow to sit.  The Beau Monde seasoning is in your grocery store spice section and a jar lasts me like three years... This is the only recipe I use it for (and rye boat dip) but it's a crushed celery seed Southern seasoning and it's wonderful. Marvelous. Excellente! Some versions call for minced onion but I don't add that. Kind of strong for the gentle flavor you want to balance out the cucumbers.

The cukes should be firm, not too seedy, and we peel them and slice them thin... But not paper thin. Kind of medium thin.



And then you spread the bread with the dill dressing.... lay sliced cucumbers over the dressing, covering the bread. Two layers is fine. More than that gets obnoxious. In-your-lap obnoxious. You know what I mean... A mess in your lap at a party is verboten. Not good. Messy, at best.

Then we slice the sandwiches into triangles.... Layer them on a pretty platter... and wrap with plastic wrap until serving time.

Fancy, finger sandwiches for the cost of a dab of dip, a cuke and some bread. And people LOVE THEM.

Reason enough right there to make 'em, right?

Now if you're going no carb, you can't have the bread, but how delicious and MARVELOUS is it to think you can eat ALL THE CUCUMBERS WITH DIP YOU WANT and not have to worry about dip calories...

Because they're no or low-carb.

There is a way around the deprivation diet, ladies, and we're going to make sure we all find it!

16 comments:

  1. I've never been a fan of cucumbers, but they come regularly in my Bountiful Baskets co-op selection. I'll have to try this recipe.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow. The scientist in me is enthralled with the info on curcurbits! In fact, I don't remember ever hearing the word. Then again, I've been out of school for like a hundred years. :)

    Ruthy, thank you for this recipe! I've always had these at teas and events at church, but I've never known how to make them. I just LOVE them.

    Any suggestions on the dill dip if we won't be going to a Tastefully Simple party anytime soon?

    Thanks for the bread recommendation! I see that brand all the time but have never tried it. Will do so this week!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Missy, good question... And Jan, we've got some non-cuke people here, too. But at a party: these are always one of the first to go. Along with chicken-stuffed crescent rolls, but we'll play that game another day!

    Oh my stars, Jan, cucumber lovers will think you're the best cook ever.

    Dill dip is easy-peasy... I should post an easy one that isn't a mix, shouldn't I, Missy?

    Hang on...

    ReplyDelete
  4. wow Missy thanks for mentioning Tastefully Simply is at parties - saved me some wally world shelf searching! I don't think I've ever had a cucumber sandwich - used to like cukes but the past several years got too many icky ones - and how can you tell if it's too seedy before cutting into it? guess I'm back to youtube searching for 'how to pick a cuke' videos (came in handy on cutting butter and making those kale chips..)
    ok - off to Hobby Lobby and Joann's - got a 'fabric and thread' emergency - well not quite emergency yet but better get it taken care of before it becomes an emergency! not sure if my friend wants to celebrate her bday with lunch today or put it off til the weekend..and both of us are the most indecisive people on earth esp when theren's not much either of us won't eat :-(

    oh btw - ya'll remember back on seekerville when I mentioned that red jello with the fruit stuff in it and the *gag* miracle whip layered in and no one ate it? well I counted this time - the aunt who makes it, her hubby, and oldest daughter each had a spoonful! I think that daughter's daughter might have gotten a bit too but hers sorta gets stirred around to make it look like she ate some. I opened my big mouth during the preparations when they were moving the jello monstrosity around to make room for a fruit salad(yep miracle whip in that too) and asked 'does anyone even eat that?' and both looked like I'd just slapped 'em! oookkkayy!

    Susanna

    ReplyDelete
  5. Okay, I added the easy-peasy dill dip recipe that's actually the same base for rye boat recipes....

    Good idea, Missy!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks, Ruthy! I'm assuming it has cream cheese in it. That's what the sandwiches around here have. YUMMO!

    Oh, no, Susanna!! LOL! Bite your tongue next year, okay?! :) hehe

    Of course, I have to say my grandmother used to make orange jello with celery and shredded carrots and nuts. CELERY and CARROTS. Oh my gosh, it gives me the shivers just to think of it (even though I love veggies now, I hated them as a kid. And with JELLO????)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh, I see you posted it already! Thanks for adding the recipe!

    Susanna, I got sidetracked with my heebie jeebies over Jello memories. :) I meant to also say to try English cucumbers. They're longer and skinnier and have less seeds.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Jello and vegetables were a topic of conversation at our Thanksgiving dinner table, too! We more mature members of the group were reminiscing about some of the more...um...interesting recipes we remembered.

    While the boys were praying fervently a)in thanks that they didn't live way back then and b)that I wouldn't take it into my head to try to make one of the recipes!

    And you've convinced me, Ruthy. I'm putting cukes and dip fixings on the grocery list this week.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Missy, no cream cheese... just the sour cream and mayo mix.

    And I REMEMBER THAT JELL-O!!! What were they thinking???? Oy. Oy. Oy. Oh, Susanna.... I can just picture that whole scene! It's like my mother's creamed onions.

    No one ever ate one, but it was her mother's tradition, or some such. So every year she made little creamed onions for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

    And every year no one ate them.

    Jan, I'm tellin' ya', the best thing about low-carb (because I could LIVE ON SUGAR...) is veggies and dip and salad slathered with dressing.

    Your body is happier breaking down stored fat than new oil/fat. It's easier and our bodies LOVE EASY PEASY! Now if I coiuld only get myself to exercise, but I figure I get some of that every time I travel up and down these flights of stairs.

    Right? (Please agree with me, there is only so much I can take of this healthy stuff!)

    BTW: I do not make creamed onions. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Stairs are good, Ruthy. Very good. But you have to do them often - one time down and up with a Pumpkin Latte in hand just won't cut the mustard!

    ReplyDelete
  11. HAHAHAHAHAHA!

    Okay, will do the stairs more often, LOL! The almost-finished cleaning new office is on the third floor... So that extra flight helps. :) And the babies nap on the second floor... So does toting 20 lbs. up and down the stairs count?

    Because it should.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Yes! You're on a roll!

    (Now I HAVE to get back to Yuletide Hearts - on chapter 4 and savoring it!)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Oh, Jan, you just made my day. I love that book...

    I'm such a sap. ;)

    Thank you so much for reading it! Now I'll be grinning all night!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Was going to comment but I just read that Jan's a chapter ahead of me in Yuletide Hearts so I'm off to catch up.

    *waves*

    ReplyDelete
  15. Love those cuke sandwiches! And I read Yuletide Hearts last week.....absolutely loved it!!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Oh, gosh, thank you guys! Let's just talk all about Yuletide Hearts, okay??? To heck with food!

    ;)

    Huge Ruthy Hugs to all of you. You just made my day!

    ReplyDelete