An interesting combination of flavors and textures make these mushroom filled cucumbers a tantalizing treat.  Served as an appetizer or a salad, these visually stunning cups are certain to amaze anyone at your dinner table.

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Cucumber Cups with Mushroom Relish

An interesting combination of flavors and textures make these mushroom filled cucumbers a tantalizing treat. Served as an appetizer or a salad, these visually stunning cups are certain to amaze anyone at your dinner table.

Course Appetizer, Salad

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Ingredients

• 2 cucumbers peeled
• 1/4 pound mushrooms finely diced
• 2 Tablespoons marinated artichokes finely diced
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 1/4 cup peppadew peppers finely diced
• 2 Tablespoons carrot finely diced
• liquid from marinated artichokes or Italian dressing
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar reduced by half

Instructions

• Begin by peeling the cucumber and cutting into 1½” thick slices. Using the tip of a vegetable peeler or a melon baller, scoop out the core of the cucumber about two-thirds of the way through the slice, leaving just enough to create a bottom in the cup. Cover and refrigerate.
• Finely dice the mushrooms, marinated artichokes, garlic, peppers, and carrots. Toss in a small bowl with just enough of the liquid from the marinated artichokes or Italian dressing to coat the vegetables.
• Cover mixture and chill.
• In a small sauce pan over medium high heat, reduce some balsamic vinegar by half or until thickened. Stir to prevent the vinegar from scorching.
• Spoon mushroom mixture into cucumber cups and drizzle with a small amount of the balsamic reduction.

Notes

Peppadew peppers are one of my favorites. If you have not used them I highly recommend them.

Sweet, nutty, and a bit fiery, designed, to cool you off and make you sweat all in one bite. Cold sesame noodles, also know as Ma Jian Leung Mein, became popular in a New York City Chinatown restaurant Hwa Yuan in the 1970’s. Tang Win Fat aka “Shorty Tang” first cooked the noodles some 40 years ago in his lower east side restaurant, and the crowds went wild.

The 4’11” chef was born in Nanchang, China in 1926. During the communist take over in 1946, Tang and his family fled China for Taiwan, where Shorty worked as street vendor selling his cuisine. In 1967 Shorty came to America and settled in Queens, New York, and soon after opened a restaurant at 40 E. Broadway in Manhattan’s Chinatown. Shorty’s business closed in the 1980’s after his death, but the demand for his dish remained. Shorty’s grandson Gilley and his brother have brought the noodles back at Smorgasburg, a weekly food fest in Brooklyn, keeping the tradition alive.

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Cold Sesame Noodle

Sweet, nutty, and a bit fiery, designed, to cool you off and make you sweat all in one bite.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Asian

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 50 minutes minutes

Servings 10

Ingredients

• 1 lb Chinese egg noodle, linguine, or spaghetti
• ¼ cup creamy peanut butter
• 3 tablespoon dark soy sauce
• 2 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoon firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon chili paste with garlic
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 3 tablespoon sesame oil divided
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root
• 2 teaspoon sesame seeds black or white or a mix
• ½ cup thinly sliced cucumber
• ½ cup thinly sliced red bell pepper
• ¼ cup carrot julienned
• ½ cup fresh peas
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro chopped
• chopped scallion for garnish

Instructions

• Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil in a stock pot. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, approximately 7 minutes (taste to be sure). Reserve half a cup of the pasta cooking water. Drain the noodles, rinse under cold water, and drain again.
• In a small saucepan, combine the peanut butter, soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, chili paste, cayenne powder, 1 tablespoon of sesame oil, and ginger. Bring to a simmer over low heat, stirring frequently with a whisk until the sauce is smooth, 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
• Place the pasta in a large mixing bowl with the remaining 2 tablespoons of sesame oil. Toss well to coat the pasta. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• While the pasta is cooling, toast the sesame seeds in a dry non-stick skillet until the seeds just begin to brown and give off a nutty aroma (shake the pan frequently to avoid burning the seeds). Remove the seeds from the pan and set aside.
• When the pasta is cold toss in the cucumber, pepper, carrot, peas, cilantro and sesame seeds. Add the sauce to the noodles (If needed thin the sauce with the reserved pasta water). Toss well to combine. Garnish with scallions.

Notes

This dish is inspired by Shorty Tang's recipe. The original does not call for any vegetables other than chopped scallion.