Is everyone "detoxing" today from all their Christmas feasts? We had a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with some Finnish favorites, and also some non-Scandinavian treats too.One of the things that I made for our Christmas Eve buffet was Kurkkusalaatti or Cucumber Salad. This was a recipe from Beatrice Ojakangas "The Finnish Cookbook" and was highly recommended by my family friend's daughter, Lisa. We decided that it would be a nice refreshing counterpoint to the Swedish meatballs, smoked salmon, and Italian antipasti. And so it was!
As a side note, since it is the middle of winter in New England, it is difficult to find fresh dill. However, I think that the fresh herb would have made the salad even better.
Kurkkusalaatti - Cucumber Salad
Serves about six. Make this salad two hours before you plan to serve it to allow the flavors to blend.
4 medium cucmbers, peeled and thinly sliced
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh or dried dill
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup water
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons salad oil
Toss the cucumber slices with the dill. Arrange the cucumber in a chilled glass bowl. Mix the vinegar, water, sugar, salt and salad oil and pour over the cucumber slices. Refrigerate until you are ready to serve.
2 comments:
My mother and grandmother made kurkkusalaatti (cucumber salad) with sour cream added, in addition to the other ingredients. I typically leave out the oil if I use sour cream. Greek style yogurt works well too!
Randy
Whenever I have seen this salad made by Finnish immigrants, the cucumbers are NOT peeled, but the skin is scored lengthwise with a fork, and then the cukes are sliced very thinly, about 1/8" thick. If you leave the skin on, you can't use waxed cucumbers, but the English cucumbers or baby cucumbers work well. If the cucumber has large seeds, I will use a spoon to scoop them out before slicing.
Also, if you like crispier cukes, mix the sliced cukes with the salt, and then let stand in a colander for a couple hours, for them to 'weep'. Then, rinse off the salt, wrap them in a tea towel, and twist it to wring out the excess moisture. Then prepare the salad as usual.
Post a Comment