Danish Food - My Way! Cucumber Salad

 Here's a little home-made pickle which you can keep in your arsenal for a couple of weeks, at the ready to brighten up any sandwich, cold meats or salad.
I love it's sweet and sour taste and the merest hint of a crunch from the skin.  And it's prettiness.  I've played around with it over the years to get to this - peeling the cucumber did not work!
It's a good way to use up cucumber when there is a glut in the garden, or in my neighbour's garden in my case. Don't worry, he passes them over the fence, no midnight scrumping is involved!

Agurkesalat

Cucumber Salad - My Way

This is simple to make and is a good go-to side salad.  It can be used as a garnish for open sandwiches, cold meats etc.

Ingredients

1 firm cucumber, washed and unpeeled

1 teaspoon salt

3 tbspn boiling water

1-2 tbspn sugar, to taste

(I prefer to use white sugar for a transparent dressing)

3 tbspn white wine vinegar

salt and white pepper to taste

caraway seeds, optional

Method

Finely slice the cucumber. 

Place the slices in a sieve, sprinkle with the salt and place the sieve over a bowl. Leave the cucumber to drain of water for 1-2 hours, occasionally squeezing down with a saucer or your knuckles.  Don't worry, you won't damage the cucumber as it's pretty robust!

After 1-2 hours, place the drained cucumber into a bowl.

In a smaller bowl, blend the sugar into the boiling water until completely dissolved, then add the vinegar, salt and pepper and caraway seeds if desired.

Pour the dressing on the drained cucumber and mix well.

Place the mix in an airproof container and use as required. 

The salad should keep for up to 2 weeks, though towards the end of that period it can get a bit too soggy, so best eat it quickly!

Velbekomme!

A la perchoine.