Saturday, June 25, 2011

Tea Sandwich Saturday #26 - Cucumber Cream with Dill

Wow, the year of experimenting with tea sandwiches is already halfway over! This week, I'm celebrating the fact some of our vegetables are starting to roll in from the straw bale garden out back.

Yes, it's cucumber time! And though I've made Cucumber Cream Sandwiches before, I decided to tweak the recipe a bit and see if I couldn't take it up a notch. Sliced Cucumber Sandwiches are the teatime classic, of course, but on the occasions when I've needed to assemble a large amount of cucumber sandwiches at the last moment, that just wasn't practical. Cucumber Cream can be made the night before and solves that problem quite nicely.

First, I sliced one large cucumber but left a bit of the peel on (for color) before I whirled it through the food processor. I processed it until it was quite soupy, and then I let the mixture drain in a strainer until it appeared to have the consistency of a cucumber slushy. Then I mixed the processed cucumber with the cream cheese and other ingredients below, and the result was a deliciously light, whipped cucumber cream I like better than my original version!

To make these sandwiches more "special," I like to cut them out with my teapot cookie cutters. You definitely want to cut *frozen* bread, though, or else you are likely to lose that little knob on top of the teapot during cutting. The frozen bread helps the design remain intact. This is what the spread looks like on one slice, and to me it's not "pretty" enough to serve open-faced.

The "sandwiched" sandwich looks nicer, I think.

And now, here's the recipe!

Cucumber Cream with Dill

1 (8-ounce) block cream cheese
1 large cucumber, chopped into large pieces and with a bit of the peel remaining (remove seeds if desired)
1 teaspoon fresh black pepper
1 teaspoon dried dill
1/2 teaspoon dried minced garlic

Let cream cheese soften to room temperature. Process cucumber and let drain. Add cream cheese, strained cucumber, pepper, dill and garlic in food processor. Process for several minutes until mixture achieves a light, airy consistency. This spread also makes a great dip for bread cubes or chips!

10 comments:

  1. Cucumbers and dill are just right
    for tea sandwiches ! Cucumbers
    really are cool, and perfect for hot weather !

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  2. Yum! There are so many variations on cucumber sandwiches, you could probably do a whole summers worth of Saturdays just dedicated to the cucumber! Cucumber and mint butter is a nice refreshing taste. And onion added to your cucumber cream is a great variation. Oh... tasty!

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  3. What a clever idea to run the cucumbers through the food processor. I like that. I am laughing because we are just planting our cucumbers now. Do you think we will have some by fall? Then I can try this too.

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  4. This looks so good! I've wondered, do you have an archive of your recipes that can be searched for easier access? Or a list that can be browsed? I love all these recipes you share.

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  5. Just so yummy! Great recipe...yet again and THANKS for the visit for Mad Tea Party!

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  6. Another great recipe here today! It looks like a good suggestion with Nancy too! a littleonion.

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  7. Wow, your homegrown cucumbers look great. I think I'm sold on the straw bale gardening.

    Thanks for the cucumber tea sandwich recipe.

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  8. Looks delicious, Angela! Very creative recipe - have a great weekend, Joanie

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  9. I'll be trying this as soon as I buy cream cheese. I have cucumbers running out my ears. :-) Thanks for another great recipe.

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  10. Angela these sandwiches sound delish! Thanks for sharing this idea of prcessing them for creamy consistancy. tammyp

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