Shrimp and Cucumber Salad
When I first started this blog back in 2008, I never intended to write or post recipes. I also never anticipated that this blog would lead and guide me to my current career. Admittedly, recipe writing was never my strong point since it was something I never planned to do or was formally trained in. Over the years, I’ve been fortunate enough to work with and around chefs and food professionals — I’m so grateful that I have the opportunity to work in an amazing test kitchen — that my skills have changed and improved a lot. One thing that hasn’t changed about recipe writing for me is my desire to simplify things or make something that looks complicated quite easy. Not everyone has the time to slave over a stove for 6 hours to make an awesome pho broth or smoked brisket. Recently, I decided to take on a big task: create a one hour pho recipe. And it worked. I won’t be shooting photos for that for a couple of weeks but I can’t wait to share it with you!
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Now that it’s getting warmer, I’ve been eating a lot more salads and seafood dishes. One of the things I’ve been preparing a lot lately is this shrimp and cucumber salad recipe from Bon Appétit.
I think it tastes best as an open faced sandwich even though it is be pretty decadent.
This recipe calls for boiling shrimp with dill, whole peppercorns, and a Turkish bay leaf. I LOVE the idea of cooking shrimp this way.
For 6 servings (adapted from Bon Appétit on Epicurious.com):
- 3/4 c. mayonnaise
- 1/4 c. prepared horseradish
- 2 tsp. white wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp. kosher salt plus more
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 bunch dill, chopped
- 10 whole black peppercorns
- 1 Turkish bay leaf
- 1 lemon, halved
- 1 lb. large shrimp, shelled and de-veined
- 1 c. diced English cucumber
- 6 pieces whole wheat toast (optional)
Whisk mayo, horseradish, and vinegar in a small bowl to blend. Season this horseradish mayonnaise to taste with salt, pepper, and more horseradish if desired. Line a baking sheet with paper towels. Combine dill, next 2 ingredients, and 2 tablespoons salt in a large pot. Squeeze juice from lemon halves into pot; add lemon halves. Add 3 quarts water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; simmer liquid for 10 minutes. Cook shrimp, until shrimp just begin to curl and turn opaque. Drain and transfer shrimp to prepared sheet; let cool. Combine cucumber, shrimp, and a quarter of the horseradish mayonnaise in a medium bowl; fold to coat. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and more horseradish, if desired. Serve with/on toast.
To make it dinner party and party friendly, serve it on crackers or phyllo cups. You could also serve it on some Belgian endives to make it extra fancy.
I haven’t tested the amount per cracker or endive because the sizes for these things vary so much. The general rule for appetizers at dinner parties and events range wildly from 6-12 pieces for person divided by the number of appetizers. So, yeah, it gets complicated.
