The following is a guest post from my good friend Ryan Boudreaux over at CajunChef Ryan. He is a colleague of mine who has provided me with numerous budget-conscious recipes in the recent past.
You can visit Ryan at CajunChefRyan. Don’t forget to congratulate him on his Saints recent Super Bowl victory. Geaux Saints!!
Sometime between the summer of 1974 or 1976, it became a turning point for me as I discovered the love of cooking through public television, specifically with two major influences from watching “The French Chef” cooking show with Julia Child, in addition, “The Frugal Gourmet” cooking show with Jeff Smith. Most of you already know about my omelets story and the mark that Julia Child made in my life and how she started me on the road to cooking at home when I was a teenager. As well, Jeff Smith and his show, which preceded hers every weekday morning on PBS, also influenced me in an extraordinary way.
At the time, Jeff Smith was rather new to the television scene and was selling a small spiral bound cookbook for just a few dollars from his television station located in Seattle, Washington. I secured a copy by sending in a letter with the money asking about how I should get started in a career within the culinary world. A few weeks later, the book arrived in a small manila envelope, but no reply to my request. I was a little upset that he did not respond to my inquiry, but the small cookbook was great. I have and continue to prepare many items from the book, but one that has stood out over all these years is a simple cucumber salad that Jeff included on page 24 and he noted that its origins are from Israel. Jeff also mentions that this salad has a flavor very close to what New York Jews call a “new pickle.” We love it, and with some fresh garden grown cucumbers given to us over the weekend, I just had to make this salad once again, and share it with you today.
Ingredients
4 Large Cucumbers, peeled and thinly sliced
1 Medium Onion, thinly sliced or julienne
¾ Cup Sugar
½ Cup Water
1 Cup White vinegar
½ Tbsp Dry dill weed
Preparation Steps
1. Combine the peeled and thinly sliced cucumber and the thinly sliced onions in a large bowl.
2. In a small saucepan combine the sugar, water, white vinegar and dry dill weed and bring to boil stirring to dissolve the sugar.
3. Pour the liquid over the cucumbers and onions, stir well and chill for 4 to 6 hours.
My thanks again to Ryan and his unlimited number of the more “frugal” type recipes.
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