Dinner Thursday 25th July 2013

[Andy M.]

Who knew there is an Armenian cucumber!

Cook's Thesaurus: Cucumbers

The English cukes we get are at least a foot long.

 

[taxlady]

I never have that problem of them going bad. I can eat them straight up, peeled or not. I love cucumbers.

If I lived alone, they would go in salads too, so they wouldn't go off as quick. But little ones would be handy, instead of the foot (and more) long ones I get here.

 

[pacanis]

Who knew there is an Armenian cucumber!

Cook's Thesaurus: Cucumbers

The English cukes we get are at least a foot long.

Wow. Who knew you could cook them like zucchini?

 

[Dawgluver]

Who knew there is an Armenian cucumber!

Cook's Thesaurus: Cucumbers

The English cukes we get are at least a foot long.

I'll have to see if I can grow the Armenians here, they sound lovely. Most of my cukes end up as freezer pickles.

 

[taxlady]

I'll have to see if I can grow the Armenians here, they sound lovely. Most of my cukes end up as freezer pickles.

Don't freezer pickles get soft and lose any crunch?

 

[GotGarlic]

If I lived alone, they would go in salads too, so they wouldn't go off as quick. But little ones would be handy, instead of the foot (and more) long ones I get here.

I make separate salads for DH and me, so we both get what we like. It takes very little extra time. I also make refrigerator pickles.

 

[Dawgluver]

Don't freezer pickles get soft and lose any crunch?

Oh no, not at all. You salt them and then rinse and drain, add the sugar and vinegar dressing. They stay super crunchy.

 

[taxlady]

I make separate salads for DH and me, so we both get what we like. It takes very little extra time. I also make refrigerator pickles.

Sometimes I put stuff on the side to add to individual salads, but I don't often remember there is 3/4 of a cuke in the fridge.

 

[vitauta]

huh, i just had to stop in to see what could possibly be causing our dinner thread to balloon out to a full nine pages and 88 posts. imagine my delight to learn that the hot sizzling topic turned out to be cool crunchy cucumbers!--dcer's fave cuke varieties, suggested cuke uses, and dcer's personal cuke stories and experiences....i so love our dc forum!!

do you guys think we could talk about garden tomatoes again this summer? ooh, and peaches too?

 

[Dawgluver]

huh, i just had to stop in to see what could possibly be causing our dinner thread to balloon out to a full nine pages and 88 posts. imagine my delight to learn that the hot sizzling topic turned out to be cool crunchy cucumbers!--dcer's fave cuke varieties, suggested cuke uses, and dcer's personal cuke stories and experiences....i so love our dc forum!!

do you guys think we could talk about garden tomatoes again this summer? ooh, and peaches too?

Vit, you have such a way with words! I thought the same thing, how the heck did the dinner thread get so big?

I did find out that Armenian cuke seeds are available, will have to plant some next year.

 

[KatyCooks]

Vit, you have such a way with words! I thought the same thing, how the heck did the dinner thread get so big?

I did find out that Armenian cuke seeds are available.

Personally, I have been waiting ALL DAY for someone to mention corn cobs.....

I specifically checked the whole corn cobs out at Sainsburys today.

But no. Not a peep. It's ALL about cucumbers...

 

[Kylie1969]

I love whole corn on the grill pan or BBQ

 

[Dawgluver]

Personally, I have been waiting ALL DAY for someone to mention corn cobs.....

I specifically checked the whole corn cobs out at Sainsburys today.

But no. Not a peep. It's ALL about cucumbers...

Corn obsession is supposed to be on Friday's dinner thread. Sorry you didn't get the memo. We only do one vegetable a day.

 

[pacanis]

Personally, I have been waiting ALL DAY for someone to mention corn cobs.....

I specifically checked the whole corn cobs out at Sainsburys today.

But no. Not a peep. It's ALL about cucumbers...

I just happened to sit down after slicing the corn off the three ears I grilled two nights ago
And was that you who asked me to report back about keeping the cooked ears in the husk in the refrigerator? CG maybe? The corn tasted just fine. Not "husky" at all. nummm

 

[KatyCooks]

Corn obsession is supposed to be on Friday's dinner thread. Sorry you didn't get the memo. We only do one vegetable a day.

Is it likely to get me thrown off the forum if I do this??

 

[KatyCooks]

I just happened to sit down after slicing the corn off the three ears I grilled two nights ago
And was that you who asked me to report back about keeping the cooked ears in the husk in the refrigerator? CG maybe? The corn tasted just fine. Not "husky" at all. nummm

Now, we're talking!

(Where is CG anyway??)

So, I checked the "corn cobs" section in Sainsburys... (it is about 1ft x .5ft) In it, there were two types of whole corn - ones that have been "butchered" and ones that have not. The upshot is that two unshucked corn cobs, plastic-wrapped in a Styrofoam tray, are £1.99 - let's call it £1 each. That's around $1.50 each.

How does that compare with US prices?

NB: These were British corn cobs

 

[KatyCooks]

Grandma's recipe (sorta) of thinly mandolin sliced cukes (sprinkle with salt and leave in a baggie, rinse the heck out of them in a few hours) with a dressing of sour cream, vinegar, salt, pepper, and a bit of sugar.

I found it. Could this be a contender to sit on the plate next to my pulled pork? It sounds ideal. Fresh and simple.

 

[pacanis]

Now, we're talking!

(Where is CG anyway??)

So, I checked the "corn cobs" section in Sainsburys... (it is about 1ft x .5ft) In it, there were two types of whole corn - ones that have been "butchered" and ones that have not. The upshot is that two unshucked corn cobs, plastic-wrapped in a Styrofoam tray, are £1.99 - let's call it £1 each. That's around $1.50 each.

How does that compare with US prices?

NB: These were British corn cobs

Unshucked and wrapped? That's different. All our wrapped ear corn is already husked.
That's about 2-3x what we pay for fresh corn on a roadside stand (by me), but I don't recall what we pay for grocery store corn that has been brought up from down south or Mexico before it starts coming in locally.
Actually, I saw two ears of corn in a package tonight at the store. Amid a few others. It surprised me because just a few feet away was locally grown corn, but just because it's grown locally doesn't mean it's fresh. It might have been sitting there all week. The stuff in the wrapper might have been picked and husked two days ago.
So hard to tell these days. We have a great transportation system that is always bringing food from here to there.

 

[KatyCooks]

Unshucked and wrapped? That's different. All our wrapped ear corn is already husked.
That's about 2-3x what we pay for fresh corn on a roadside stand (by me), but I don't recall what we pay for grocery store corn that has been brought up from down south or Mexico before it starts coming in locally.
Actually, I saw two ears of corn in a package tonight at the store. Amid a few others. It surprised me because just a few feet away was locally grown corn, but just because it's grown locally doesn't mean it's fresh. It might have been sitting there all week. The stuff in the wrapper might have been picked and husked two days ago.
So hard to tell these days. We have a great transportation system that is always bringing food from here to there.

Corn on the cob is a bit "special" here.

Confession time. I have a "corn scraper". A device that is supposed to scrape the corn off the cob.

Is that bad? (I haven't ever used it.) I guess I live in hope!

 

[Kylie1969]

No, that is brilliant Katy...Jamie and Gordon scrape it off the cob for certain recipes, nice and fresh, usually char grilled...better than buying corn in a can anyday