"cucumber" news and stories

In our third cold soup of the week (see posts for Thai Spiced Melon soup and Ginger Carrot soup), we're turning to perhaps the coolest vegetable, the cucumber. Mild in flavor, and a perfect companion to a variety of herbs, the cucumber's smooth texture and high water content make it a natural for soups and accompaniments like Greek tzatziki and Indian raita.

For this soup, simply blend sour cream, English cucumbers, dill, kosher salt, horseradish and a touch of Worcestershire sauce, garnish with dill (get the recipe here) and serve in bowls or, as photographer savor_soaps does, in shooter sizes for a refreshing appetizer. And for a Mediterranean-style yogurt-based cucumber soup with mint, try this recipe.

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Got a bumper crop of cukes in your garden -- or picked up a bunch on sale at the market?

Thirsty? Eat a cuke. Heat getting to you? Reach for a cuke. Puffy eyes? Throw a couple of chilled cucumber slices on your closed lids and you'll be puffy no more. Unless, of course, you're that Puffy. Liquid rich and with only 13 calories a cup, cucumbers are made for days when just the thought of a hot meal makes you sweat.

This cucumber salad, from blogger erincooks, is a simple combination -- her recipe calls for English cukes, red onion, dill, apple cider vinegar, sugar and water. Curtis Stone mixes cucumbers and dill as well, but in his recipe he uses olive oil and lemon juice. Gail Simmons is another cucumber fan, and in her recipe she pickles the cukes and pairs them with glazed salmon. You can also go tropical, as in this recipe, which throws in mangoes, avocado and cilantro. And so goes the daily prescription for keeping it cool.

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Have a few summer cucumbers lingering in the fridge? Put them to good use by juicing them for refreshing cocktails or family-friendly mocktails.

Braised cucumbers. Photo: Brent Ridge, Beekman 1802.

Brent Ridge and Josh Kilmer-Purcell are the farmers and innovators behind Beekman 1802, a 200-year-old estate and farm in upstate New York. We'll be running recipes, gorgeous photos and tales from the farm as their crops come into season.

By Brent Ridge with Sandy Gluck

Like many people who love food (and watching cooking shows on TV), I plopped myself down in a cool theater during last week's heat wave to watch Meryl Streep expertly channel Julia Child.

What stuck with me after leaving the theater was not Streep's pitch-perfect accent, but the very brief mention of a recipe for braised cucumbers.

It is quite possible that my brain latched onto this because at the very moment I was having a conundrum with what to do with all the cucumbers we've been blessed with from the heirloom garden this year (after a disastrous beetle infestation in 2008).

Our heirloom cukes and an amazing recipe after the jump.