Mrs. Chalfin’s Stuffed Cucumbers

Erma, you served some of your Blackberry Champagne once when we were visiting, and it was pretty good, but your Pear Champagne was out of this world. Until then I did not know that the old name for this was Perry. I had read about Perry as a drink in old history books and cookbooks, but I hadn’t realized what it was.

I must save your Blackberry Wine recipe in case the world comes crashing down and we have to survive off what we can grow in our own gardens. It is comforting to know that a complete breakdown of society does not mean that we can not have wine with our meals.

You are coping with an excess of blackberries, and I am coping with an excess of cucumbers. While there are hundreds of pickle recipes (I know as I have probably tried most of them at one time or another), there is a limit as to how many pickles one family can eat in a year.

You talking about your recent visit to Monticello inspired me to dig out my 1950 edition of the “Monticello Cook Book.” Reading along, I came upon this Stuffed Cucumbers recipe. I don’t know who Mrs. Chalfin was, but she had an interesting take on cucumbers. People used to eat their cucumbers much bigger (and tougher and bitterer) than we do today. This baking and stuffing would cover over the bitter taste of a large cucumber. I am sure her “medium cucumbers” would be classed as large today.

What I found interesting is her inclusion of fresh thyme, chives, parsley, celery seed, and sage. Not many recipes of that era included herbs. As I recall, Jefferson’s gardens were filled with herbs so he must have had his French trained cook use them generously.

Mrs. Chalfin’s Stuffed Cucumbers:

8 medium cucumbers
1 green pepper, chopped
½ pound pork sausage
2 ½ cups soft bread crumbs
Salt, peppers, celery seed to taste
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves plus a pinch of sage, unless sausage is already highly seasoned

Wipe and peel cucumbers. Cut in half lengthwise. Remove seeds and chop and drain them. Cook sausage and peppers until slightly brown. Add to the cucumber pulp without the grease. Use 2 tablespoons of this fat to make a gravy with flour and ½ cup of milk. Add to the other ingredients with the bread, seasonings and herbs. Fill cucumber shells, sprinkle with chopped chives or parsley and top with melted butter. Bake at 375 degrees F. for about ½ hour or until tops are brown and cucumbers are done.

Note: Eggplant and Summer Squash are both good done this way.

Cook Cool This Summer

Your old Victorian Potato Salad sounds interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of cooling the potatoes in oil and vinegar, and then later adding mayonnaise. The pimentos would add both flavor and red color. I hate potato salad (no, I love potato salad!) that is pasty white in color.

Up here in the Midwest, German style Potato Salad is very popular, but it is usually served hot, or at least warm. I’ll have to try that recipe soon.

Another way we used to cope with summer heat was with cucumbers. Once they came on in the garden, hardly a meal passed (okay, Erma, we didn’t eat them for breakfast) with a side of cucumbers. Often there would be two cucumber dishes. One sliced raw on a plate with peppers, onions, tomatoes, and another slightly pickled bowl. Most women sliced onions and cucumbers in a bowl, then covered them with a little salt, dash of sugar, some vinegar and water, and served them cold. The more German or Eastern European cooks would mince fresh dill in this.

Is anything colder than fresh dill? Just thinking about it drops the temperature 10 degrees. I still will walk over to the dill plants when working in the garden and break off a sprig. Someway, just smelling dill makes me feel cooler.

I just found this old Polish recipe for cucumbers that is really better than it sounds. Every culture in Eastern Europe must have a recipe for Cucumbers and Sour Cream, and I love them all. The difference here is the boiling water treatment, which turns the cucumber, slices limp, but seems to take out some of the harsh taste that larger cucumbers can have. Today we pick our cucumbers no longer than 5 or 6 inches long, but people used to let them grow to a foot long so they were not as sweet as ours.

This recipe has 3 cooling elements: One, it uses dill: two, it is served cold; and three; it uses cucumbers which are a cool vegetable.

Remember; don’t waste the ends of the cucumber. Take those slices and run them across your face and cool down quickly. Why, in many famous spas, they give cucumber facials. Little do most women realize that wiping your face with a cucumber is a beauty treatment that has been around for hundreds of years.

Polish Cucumbers in Sour Cream:

2 large cucumbers, peeled
1/2 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed, or fresh if possible (Chives or green onions can be used)
dash black pepper
2 teaspoons vinegar

With a Santoku Knife, slice the cucumbers thinly. Cover the cucumbers with boiling water and let stand 30 minutes. Drain in a collander and cover with very cold water. Let stand 2 minutes. Drain again and chill in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Stir in all the remaining ingredients and chill for another hour or more to blend the flavors.

Makes 6 servings