Cucumber cups

[little ms foodie]

for thanksgiving I'm thinking of making tuna tartare in cucumber cups, I've had them before but haven't made them myself.

Any tips in making sure the cups aren't mushy??

What have you put in cucumber cups before??

[Motochef]

It has been a few years, but I served chicken laub in cucumber cups as "finger food that could be passed on a tray".

As I recall, I did not salt the cucumbers to avoid a "desiccant" effect and excess water on the serving trays.

M.

[gus_tatory]

for thanksgiving I'm thinking of making tuna tartare in cucumber cups, I've had them before but haven't made them myself.

What have you put in cucumber cups before?

←

if you put in tiny dollops of labneh (strained yogurt) and topped with inexpensive caviar like tobiko, that'd be nice. also perhaps pesto-cream cheese and smoked salmon?

i also like your tuna tartare suggestion!

[Gifted Gourmet]

I have tried this technique on the cucumber cups with some success:

see what you think of this picture

Cut the unpeeled cucumber into 1-1/2" thick slices; with the cucumber slice still laying on it's side, make a diagonal cut, now you have two diagonal cut pieces of cucumber. Use a melon baller to make a small round hole in the center of the cucumber where the seeds are to make a cup; do not cut completely through to the other side. Lightly salt each cucumber cup; place on a paper towel to drain. They can be refrigerated at this point and finished later.

Basically, it is something I try to do the same day .. and I like the way these cups are formed.

[scubadoo97]

I've made them but didn't do the diagonal cut. Just cut them into about 1" slices and scooped out the middle with a melon baller. Served smoked salmon cream cheese that was piped in the center

[spaghetttti]

Hi Wendy,

Last year for my birthday, I made these cuke cups...they've got cream cheese & tuna seasoned with Old Bay.

The labneh and tobiko sounds wonderful, gus_tatory! And, I love your idea of tuna tartare, Wendy!

Edited November 15, 2005 by spaghetttti (log)

[kiliki]

These look so pretty filled with gazpacho in Martha Stewart's Appetizer book, but I always wondered if all of the filling gushes out onto your guests after the first bite (they are bigger than bite sized, it looks like). Are these others that people make really messy?

[Mooshmouse]

A favourite filling for cucumber cups in our household is cream cheese, minced smoked oysters, dill and Tabasco sauce all creamed together and topped with a sprig of fresh dill. These never last for long.

[Wayne]

Here is an alternate way of making cucumber cups:

Use an english cucumber and slice off one end then make four or five

diagonal cuts starting about 1.5 to 2 inches above the sliced end

and equally spaced around the cucumber. End the cuts about 0.5 to

1 inch above the cut end. Each cut should end near the soft center.

Then hold the cucumber and twist off the bottom. You should end up

with a flower shaped cucumber cup. Then trim the bottom of the

cucumber and repeat for the next cup.

It takes a few tries to get it right then it should go fairly fast.

It's also a nice effect to use a zester, the type that takes off thin strips,

to scrape the outside of the cucumber lenght-wise.

Pick small cucumbers to get bite-sized cups.

Tuna tartare sounds great as well as other suggestions proffered.

[little ms foodie]

Damn! You all have excellent suggestions...... maybe I'll do an assortment! assiette des cucumbers? haha!

Anyway this is exactly the type of info I was looking for so thank you! Of course I'll report back.........

[megwoo]

I make quick (and inexpensive) cucumber appetizers topped with bay shrimp, crème fraîche and dill:

1/2 pound bay shrimp, rinsed and patted dry

1-2 tablespoons dill, chopped

4 tablespoons crème fraîche

Sometimes I'm really lazy and instead of making cups I just slice the cucumber into rounds and place a mound of filling on top. Very easy, delicious and pretty.

[little ms foodie]

Looks like Oprah and I have the same idea.....

Tuna tartare in cucumber cups