Grandma's Cukes n' Onions PLUS a Yummy Cucumber-Pastrami Panini

My grandma's marinated cucumbers and onions were a summer staple through my childhood. The recipe is so good that it has become a time-honored tradition. My family is still eating them today. A July trip home to the farm just wouldn't seem right if I couldn't take a bite of this crunchy cucumber concoction. I have a whole list of foods in that represent summertime in my mind. Just off of the top of my head: strawberry shortcake, corn on the cob, rhubarb cream pie, fresh green beans with potatoes and bacon, caprese salad, and Kentucky Grilled Chicken are all foods that I look forward to each and every summer.

I can't remember a summer that I didn't enjoy the sweet and sour crunch of these cucumbers alongside whatever we pulled off of the grill. The funny thing is, I also can't remember ever preparing this dish for myself. I always just find a jarful in my mom or my grandma's fridge each summer.

Considering that my one hill of cucumber plants has already produced dozens of pickles, I decided that it was time for me to make a batch of cukes n' onions for my very own fridge. I've already canned pickles and made a delicious cucumber ribbon salad and more tiny little cucumbers keep showing up on the vine in my garden! It was definitely time for this nostalgic recipe. One of the great things about grandma's recipe is that when you eat all of the yummy pickles from the marinade, you don't need to start over. You can just add more sliced cucumbers to the vinegar-sugar-cream mixture.

Many of you probably use or have tried a recipe like this. I've also tried a few. But I'm biased. I like Grandma's the best.

You want to start out by peeling the cucumbers. I forgot this step the first time that I made the recipe. Live and learn! I realized that Grandma probably always peeled the cucumbers first because the skins seem to grow tougher as they marinate.

After the cucumbers are peeled, thinly slice and add them to salted water. Let them marinate in the salt water for "as long as it takes you to make dinner". Not very specific, I know, but those were grandma's instructions. I think that I let them sit for about an hour. Grandma claims that this helps to remove some of the bitter taste from the cukes. I'm gonna have to back her up on that one, because like I said, her cukes n' onions are the best!

Remove the cucumbers from the brine and rinse thoroughly, then drain.

While the cucumbers drain, add equal parts of vinegar and sugar to a quart-sized canning jar or Tupperware for the marinade. I used my new favorite storage container- a Ball 32 oz. re-usable freezer container.

Then pour in some cream or half and half. I've seen similar recipes that use mayonnaise instead of cream, but this is how Grandma does it and it works!

Next, drop a thinly sliced onion into the marinade.

Then add the cucumber slices (please ignore the peel on some of those cukes in the picture. This was my first batch...before I realized the error of my ways...). Now put a lid on your container and "shake it like crazy".

I like to let mine sit in the refrigerator overnight before eating them.

Yum! For such a simple recipe, it sure packs a flavor punch. The cucumbers and onions are sweet, salty, sour, AND creamy!

Grandma Shirley's Cucumbers n' Onions recipe written based on a phone conversation with my grandma. (Translation: I had to do some guesswork. If this isn't to your liking, "tweak" the ratios to perfection in your own kitchen.)

2 cucumbers, peeled and thinly sliced
1 small onion, thinly sliced
2 cups water
2 tablespoons salt
1/2-3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2-3/4 cup white vinegar
1/3 cup half and half or heavy cream
chopped parsley for garnish

In a medium bowl, mix the salt into the water until dissolved. Soak the peeled, sliced cucumbers in the brine for about an hour. Rinse under cold water and drain. Meanwhile, combine the sugar, vinegar, and cream. Add in the sliced onion, then the rinsed cucumber. If the marinade does not cover the cucumbers, add additional vinegar and sugar (in equal parts) until the cucumbers are covered. Place a lid over the container and shake well until everything is combined. Refrigerate overnight. Serve with your favorite summer dinner.

After enjoying Grandma's Cucumbers n' Onions on their own for a couple of days, I found a panini recipe that used marinated cucumbers in the sandwich. Perfect!

Our family has succumbed to a panini addiction this summer. I attribute it to my new Pampered Chef Grill Pan and Grill Press. This cookware duo turns out perfect paninis every time. I've had fun coming up with panini combinations over the last couple of weeks. I know that I mentioned this in an earlier post, but the Grill Pan and Grill Press are on special this month if you're interested. Click HERE to see the deal.

I began this recipe, (which was inspired by a recipe in the November 2003 issue of Better Homes & Gardens) by creating a mustard spread. The original recipe called for honey mustard and prepared horseradish. I didn't have either. I ended up mixing together some honey mustard salad dressing, some Gulden's Spicy Mustard, and a little wasabi (for that horseradish kick). It seemed to work really well!

Lesson: if you don't have the exact ingredients on hand for a recipe, improvise with similar ingredients. But DO taste the ingredients or mixture of ingredients first before applying them to the entire recipe.

Spread the mustard over one side of each bread slice.

Top half of the bread slices, mustard side up, with cheese. I used Muenster. Swiss would be really good here too. Arrange some of the marinated cucumbers over the cheese. Then top with some diced onion.

Another tip: during the summer burger-and-hotdog months, I like to keep a screw-top jelly jar of diced onions in the fridge for use as a condiment. Dicing onions once a week or even every two weeks cuts down on the tears!

Back to the sandwich...

Pile on some sliced pastrami. (I used turkey pastrami).

Top with another slice of mustard-"schmeared" bread. Then brush liberally with olive oil.

Place the sandwich in a pre-heated grill pan. Apply the pre-heated grill press or a brick wrapped in foil to the top of the panini.

Cook for a couple of minutes, until golden brown on one side, then flip the sandwich and cook on the other side.

Now slice that sammie in half! But don't take a bite just yet.....

You're supposed to dip it in Thousand Island dressing. At least, that's what the original recipe recommended.

Okay. Twist my arm...

Oh man. That's good stuff. This was a great panini!

Here's the recipe:

Pastrami-Cucumber Panini

3-4 tablespoons honey mustard
2 teaspoons prepared horseradish
8 slices hearty wheat or rye bread (I used both whole grain white and light wheat)
1/2 cup Grandma's Cucumbers n' Onions (see above)
2 tablespoons diced red or white onion
6 oz. thinly sliced pastrami (I used turkey)
4 oz. Swiss or Muenster cheese slices
Olive oil
Thousand Island Dressing (for dipping)

Directions:
COMBINE HONEY MUSTARD AND HORSERADISH. SPREAD SMALL AMOUNT ON ONE SIDE OF EACH SLICE OF THE BREAD. CREATE SANDWICH IN THE FOLLOWING ORDER: BREAD WITH SPREAD, CHEESE, PASTRAMI, CUCUMBER WITH ONION, MORE CHEESE, AND ANOTHER SLICE OF BREAD. BRUSH WITH OLIVE OIL. GRILL UNTIL CHEESE IS MELTED.

Tip: If you don't have a grill pan and press or a brick wrapped in foil, try using a George Foreman Grill to press and grill the paninis.

Trial and Error Pan-Fried Zucchini

Whatever shortcomings our first-year garden may have, it sure is producing a lot of zucchini! We've been enjoying zucchini in a number of dishes lately. But I had not yet prepared a favorite from my childhood, pan-fried zucchini...until today.

To see more of my favorite zucchini recipes click HERE.

When lunch-time rolled around today, I looked at my most recent zucchini harvest piled on the countertop and decided that it was time to pan-fry some zucchini.

I didn't have a recipe, so I just started grabbing some of my favorite basic breading ingredients: milk, eggs, panko (Japanese bread crumbs), Parmesan cheese, and seasoning salt.

In one coating tray, I whisked together an egg and some milk. Then in the other, I combined the panko, Parmesan, and seasoning salt.

I sliced the zucchini into 1/4" (approximately) slices.

I first dipped the zucchini into the egg/milk mixture.

Then I coated them with the panko mixture. I chose panko because of that special added "crunch" it brings to a breading.

Then I heated about 1/2" of olive oil in a skillet and dropped the breaded zucchini in. First I fried them on one side and then flipped them over to fry the other until golden brown.

I forgot to snap a picture of the frying step, but here they are, draining on paper towels afterward. Notice that I took a flaming hot bite out of one, straight from the skillet. I sure do miss the skin on the roof of my mouth right now...

Here's the thing: While I really enjoyed the flavor of the Parmesan and the crunch of the panko, the panko breading did not stay attached to the zucchini during frying. It was kind of patchy on the finished product.

Then I remembered that when my mom made fried zucchini when I was a kid, she just breaded them with some seasoned flour and nothing else.

I decided to try it her way.

I fried them up.

And drained em' on the paper towel-lined plate.

These were good, but I missed that panko crunch and the subtle bite of the Parmesan. But hey, at least the breading stuck this time!

I resolved to combine the two methods. I stirred the flour into the panko-parmesan mixture.

After breading the next batch in the new breading mixture, I dropped them into the skillet.

Ahhh. Perfection! The breading stuck to the zucchini and it was perfectly tasty and crunchy. Score! The only thing missing? After tasting these, I decided that they needed a little Italian seasoning. I've added it to the recipe below.

Here's a close up. You can actually see "the crunch". YUM!

Here is my recommendation for the perfect pan-fried zucchini:

Pan-Fried Zucchini

2 small or 1 firm medium-sized zucchini, sliced into 1/4" rounds
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 cup panko
1/2 cup Parmesan
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1 teaspoon Italian blend seasoning
Olive oil
Additional salt and pepper for seasoning

Directions:

In a shallow dish or coating tray, whisk together milk and eggs. Combine panko, Parmesan, flour, and seasonings. Pour oil 1/4"-1/2" deep in a heavy skillet. Heat over medium-high heat. Coat zucchini slices first with the milk/egg mixture, then dredge in the panko mixture. Place in the heated oil. Fry on one side for about 2-3 minutes or until golden brown, then flip and fry for another 2-3 minutes until golden brown on the other side. Remove to a plate lined with paper towel to drain. Season with additional salt and pepper as desired.

Notes: I fried these in olive oil. You can also use vegetable oil, canola oil, OR do it like my mom did and fry them in butter (YUM!).

Southern Fried Green Tomatoes and Beer Battered Green Beans

The county fair was going on in our town last week. There are so many things that I love about fair week, and one of them is the FOOD! Rows upon rows of fried delicacies at my disposal...YUM! I captured this birdseye view of the food vendors at our fair from the top of the Ferris wheel. The glowing lights and the smell of the hot oil were calling to me...

I consider myself somewhat of a connoisseur of fair food because I spent so much time at the fair while growing up. I was in 4-H and FFA, so when fair week rolled around in my town, my family practically lived at the fair all week while caring for and showing livestock and working our shifts in the buildings.

It might not surprise you to know that my mom was a meal planner too. She often had meals and snacks packed for us during fair week. We also ate our share of lunches and dinners at the Pork Producers stand and when at the state fair, at the Cattlemen's Association. Plus, there were the church, Lion's Club, and local 4-H club food stands that we frequented. (Tip: if you're looking to save a buck at your county fair, head for these establishments. The food is less expensive and often healthier). There were a few junk food splurges during fair week too. No fair week would be complete without a sugary elephant ear or a crispy corn dog, after all. I always made sure to try something new at the fair. It's where I tried my first gyro. And let's not forget those fragrant Italian sausages served up with sauteed onions and peppers. Mmm. If it's fried or served on a stick you're certain to find it at the county fair.

This year, I set out to find something I had not yet tried. For years I've seen people walking around the fair, barbarically tearing at those giant smoked turkey legs. This was something that I'd always avoided.  To me,  a whole upper leg of a turkey seemed like too much of a commitment. Not to mention, I thought it made the people who were gnawing on them as they strolled the midway look like cavemen!  But since I'm all about trying new things, I decided that a monstrous drumstick would be my dinner at the fair last week.

To escape judgement (or maybe to prove a point), I didn't walk with my super-sized drumstick. Rather, I sat down at a table and picked the meat off of the bone as delicately as possible. I'm sure that I was the picture of grace. Miss Manners would have been proud...

The vendor where I purchased my drumstick had conveniently sliced it down the sides for easier removal of the meat.

Here is mine, laid out in front of me.

I have to say that I'm sorry I never tried this before. It was awesomely delicious! It tasted a lot like the meat from the hog roasts that I attended in my youth. The turkey was perfectly smoked and delicious!

After dinner, we decided to look for dessert on our way to tour the livestock barns. Just outside of one of the dairy barns I spotted this:

Holy cow! (pun intended) this operation put my little ice cream maker to shame! I decided to stick around to observe.

The gentleman from Rader's Old Fashion Ice Cream was kind enough to tell me about the "Hit or Miss" (the name for the engine that powers this ice cream maker. If you heard it work you would understand.) and walk me through the process...

before giving us a taste of this wonderful ice cream.

Then it was "straight to the source" for some calf cuddles.

We had a wonderful time at the fair, but I left that night still craving one thing- my favorite guilty fair food indulgence: a big ol' basket of fried veggies! I used to love the fried vegetable stand at our fair. They'd serve up a heapin' helping of fried broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, zucchini, and onions flaming hot out of the grease. Although I knew the food was too hot, I couldn't resist taking a bite as I departed the long line of fellow fried food junkies and burned off a colony of taste buds. Every. Single. Time.

Sure, I'm well aware that frying them completely defeats and depletes the purpose of vegetables, but this rational thought doesn't make fried veggies any less tasty! Everything in moderation, people...

The next day I decided to see what was available for frying in my garden.

All of these nice, green vegetables sure look healthy don't they?

Well, not for long!

I began by preparing the veggies.

I cleaned and snapped the green beans.

And I sliced the tomatoes.

And the onions.

Then I cut the zucchini into spears.

Hey, I only haul my deep fryer out of the basement a couple of times a year (for Halloween donuts and Super Bowl hot wings). I might as well put it to work!

The tomatoes needed a different preparation and frying method than the other veggies, so I started with them.

I've never tasted a fried green tomato, although I've been holding onto this recipe from Paula Deen's "Deen Family Cookbook" for quite some time. Miss Paula got this recipe from none other than Bea Arthur. Like, Golden Girl Bea Arthur. Pretty cool.  Bea liked to coat her tomatoes with sour cream before breading them. 

Once the tomatoes are coated with sour cream, bread them with a mixture of cornmeal, sugar, salt, and black and cayenne pepper.

Then drop em' into hot oil and fry on both sides until golden. Lift them out with a metal slotted spoon and drain on paper towels before serving.

Because I had never tasted a fried green tomato before, I was not sure what to expect. I got the sweet taste from the sugar, the sour from the sour cream, the crunch from the cornmeal and the spice from the peppers in that first bite. I liked them. But I was the only one. The rest of my family wasn't crazy about them.

I did see a recipe today that had the tomatoes first dipped in flour, then an egg wash, then a panko-thyme breading before frying. They looked delicious! Maybe my family would like that recipe better?

Dinner wasn't a complete loss. We still had green beans, onions, and zucchini to fry.

For these, I used a beer batter. Beer batter is so easy to make- and so very tasty! Just mix equal parts of light beer...

and flour together. Then season with salt and pepper.

Coat whatever you wish to fry in the batter.

And drop it into 375 degree oil and fry until golden brown, flipping with a metal fork if necessary.

Drain on paper towel-lined plates and season to taste before serving.

I loved the green beans! My family liked them too, although their favorite part of our nutritious (Ha!) meal were the tried-and-true onion rings. I personally thought the fried zucchini took first prize. I LOVE fried zucchini!

Just in case you too want to clog your family's arteries with crispy breaded, fried veggies, here are the recipes:

Bea Arthur's Fried Green Tomatoes from Paula Deen's The Deen Family Cookbook (See all South Cooking, Food & Wine Books)

2 cups cornmeal
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 pinches cayenne pepper
1-1/2 cups sour cream
4 large green tomatoes, sliced 1/2" thick
1/2 cup vegetable oil, plus more as needed

1. In a large bowl, combine cornmeal, sugar, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Put the sour cream in a separate bowl. Coat the tomato slices in sour cream, then dredge them in the cornmeal mixture, coating both sides well.

2. Heat the oil in a large skillet cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Fry the tomatoes, working in batches, until they are crisp and golden, 3-4 minutes per side. Transfer them to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Serve hot.

Fried Green Beans Recipe courtesy The Neely's

Prep Time:10 min Inactive Prep Time:-- Cook Time:10 min
Level:Intermediate Serves:4 to 6 servings

Ingredients
Peanut oil, for frying
1 cup beer
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt, plus more for seasoning
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, plus more for seasoning
1 pound green beans, ends trimmed

Directions
Preheat oil to 375 degrees F.

Whisk the beer, flour, salt and pepper until smooth.

Dip green beans into batter to coat, letting excess drip off. Fry in the peanut oil in batches, until they are golden and crisp. Remove from oil with a spider strainer to a paper towel lined sheet tray. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Notes: I used canola oil rather than peanut oil. This batter works well for all types of vegetables.

Enjoy!