This goes very well with such things as cured salmon, mackerel, and smoked cod’s roe, or is very happily eaten by itself.
Real quick: Eating Nose To Tail and Medieval Cooking. Go visit!
Ah, June. June in Texas.
Damn, it’s hot. Aside from a big glass of iced tea, cold salads are just perfect for this time of the year and they don’t come more refreshing than this one.
As the title states, cucumbers are the foundation of this salad. Since the outside thermometer kept rising higher and higher, I decided to throw these bad boys into the freezer for a few minutes to get them nice and cold.
When the cucumbers were frigid I removed them from the freezer, peeled their skin off and scooped out the seeds with a spoon. The pulp was reserved for use in cocktails like this one.
Next I cut the cucumber flesh on an angle in the hopes of making “strange wonderful shapes.” The little half moon slices were placed in a colander and tossed with a teaspoon of salt to draw the excess moisture out and promote a crunchy texture with a bit of give. The cucumbers were left alone for an hour to let the salt really do its thing.
Fifteen minutes before the cucumber slices were ready my wife and I started working on the dressing. We added a tiny amount of sugar to some white wine vinegar and stirred until it dissolved. Mr. Henderson stresses that the dressing shouldn’t be sweet, rather the sugar should be subliminal. A spoonful of Dijon mustard was stirred in along side copious amounts of extra virgin olive oil to create an emulsion. To finish, fresh ground black pepper helped bring a little extra heat to the party.
With a smidgen of pride, I present you some fresh dill from my tiny herb garden. The feathery leaves were picked from their stems and roughly chopped.
To compose the final dish I removed the salted cucumber slices from the colander and patted them dry with probably way too many paper towels. A few teaspoons of the dressing and a sprinkle of dill on top, a quick toss to evenly distribute everything and it was done.
What an awesome salad. I mean, simple preparation, simple construction, straightforward flavor. What’s not to like? The cucumber ended up being slightly flexible yet still gave an agreeable crunch when eaten. The salt hadn’t infused itself too deeply, but there was just enough left over for seasoning. The tart and tangy dressing and the grassy dill added new dimensions to the salad without killing the cucumber flavor. Harmony had been achieved.
If it’s hot in your neck of the woods, consider giving this salad a try. It’ll help soothe some of summer’s fiery bite.
One down, seventy seven to go.
