Stan Horwitz wrote:
> In article >,
> sf > wrote:
>
> > Does anyone have a favorite cucumber salad... one that would go well
> > with carnitas?
>
> I am not sure what carnitas are (or is), but I make a great cucumber
> salad and its damned near impossible to screw up. You need to make it
> one day a head of time. I got the recipe from the 2nd Avenue Deli's
> cookbook, but I just wing it because I can't seem to find that cookbook.
>
> What I do is I take a couple of cups of plain white vinegar and I mix in
> half a cup of sugar. The recipe calls for regular sugar, but I use
> Splenda because I need to keep a low carb diet. No one who I have fed
> this to has noticed a difference, although I do tell people I use
> Splenda instead of real sugar. Mix in a half teaspoon of white pepper
> (although I use black instead). Stir the vinegar and sugar mixture.
> Taste the vinegar mixture adjust the sweetness as you see fit.
>
> Slice three or four pickling cucumbers paper thin and half a plain white
> onion. Layer the cucumber and onion slices in a deep bowl. Pour the
> vinegar sugar mixture over the sliced vegies. You want enough liquid to
> cover the vegies. If you think your salad needs more vinegar and/or
> sweetener, add whatever suits your taste. Cover the bowl tightly and
> refrigerate over night. The result will be delicious.

Two cups is a lot of vinegar. The recipe in the 2nd Ave cook book
calls for 2 1/2 long (Eng. style cukes) I'd use all three... peel only
half the skin, 'stripe' them, 1/2 cup vinegar, 1/4 cup sugar, 4 thin
slices onion (I like more onyun), 2 Tbs chopped dill, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/8
tsp white pepper (white works better with cukes than black, tastes
better and doesn't look so much like dirt against the white cukes. I
would omit the salt, you won't miss it with that strong sweet-sour
brine... and the cukes won't dessicate so much, which is why you don't
need to cover the cukes to start, the cukes will shink by at least half
their volume and add their liquid to the pot... you may want to toss
them about once or twice while marinating.

I make and consume huge quantities of cuke salad during summer in a
futile attempt to keep pace with the cukes from my garden. Btw, if you
can't get unwaxed cukes then peel completely, or use kirbys. I dilute
the white vinegar by half with water and use half the sugar called for
in this recipe... yoose may want to start off with a milder pickling,
you can always add more... that recipe is if you will only eat it as a
condiment (a couple forks full) but if eating a big bowlful a milder
pickle is much nicer. Just before serving a squeeze of fresh lemon is
nice... I often drizzle with a flavorful olive oil too.

Sheldon