6 hours ago, heidih said:Too funny. My Ralphs has their produce in the same order - even the zukes - green on left, "white" on right
think the little cucumber cones w/ sumac were worth the effort - as in you would repeat?
5 hours ago, Smithy said:
Yes, I'll definitely do the cukes again when it gets warmer!
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The cukes can be done up to a day in advance, I think. I'll get clarification on that point.
Here was the procedure for the cukes, per my friend:
Peel 2 medium to large cucumbers. Slice them very thinly (I think it was the smallest slot on my mandoline; basically, you want the slices so thin they're flexible and almost transparent.) Put them into a bowl.
Whisk about 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp sugar into about 1/2 cup vinegar. The friend who taught my friend this recipe used white wine vinegar, but we didn't have any. I don't remember whether we used rice vinegar, white vinegar, red wine vinegar or a mixture, but we decided later that the vinegar type probably doesn't matter. At any rate, it needs to be enough to cover the cucumbers, but just barely. Pour the mixture over the cuke slices and let them marinade for at least an hour. You want them to collapse and "wilt" somewhat in the marinade.
Drain the cukes and squeeze the excess moisture out. Make little golf ball-sized mounds, squeezing with your fingers to shape them and drain out a bit more moisture. Place on a plate. Garnish with something of a contrasting color: I said sumac, but actually hers was so dark she used a little sprinkling of ground red pepper flakes instead.
