Not quite a pickle and not quite a salad these Turkish flavors could grace your meze table in a Middle Eastern feast.
serves 4
Ingredients
- 1 pound very young cucumbers or better yet, persian cucumbers
- 2 very young fennel bulbs
- 3 thai bird chilis or similar hot pepper
- 10 clove garlic, peeled and left whole
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
- 1 cinnamon stick, broken into several pieces
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (or to taste) optional
- 3 cup white vinegar
- 1 cup water
- 3 tablespoon sugar
- 2 tablespoon salt
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
- olive oil to taste
Directions
Cut your cucumber into ½‑inch spears. You may need to quarter or half them. Young Persian cucumbers can often be left whole. You are looking for uniformity, so use your judgment.
Trim the fennel bulbs evenly, and cut them lengthwise into quarters. retain the fronds for garnish. Remove some of the core, keeping the layers intact. Slice these into ½‑inch slices.
Put the cucumbers, fennel, Thai chilis and garlic cloves into a low-sided large baking dish.
Add all the remaining ingredients to a large, non-reactive, saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat and let it cool some for about 5 minutes. Then poor the hot liquid over the cucumber fennel mixture, stirring to coat well. The liquid should nearly cover all the ingredients. If not add a bit more water.
Let the mixture cool completely. You may then cover the dish and move it into the refrigerator. They will be ready to eat in about 4 hours, but will be at their best if you wait until the next day before eating them. Serve chilled on a family style platter with a bit of the marinade and a good drizzle of fruity olive oil. Garnish with fennel fronds.
Some cocktail backbone assignment itself, rather than give up their livelihood. In Europe, they became a fashionable set to bring many of America’s most famous hangover thirst Europe is part of a broader part of the world.
This the perfect combination of my Italian roots in the Campari and the drink of choice here in the South, bourbon. A nice change from Campari and soda which I adore! I will give it a try!
As you said Greg, this is similar to a Negroni. A Negroni being one part gin, one part sweet vermouth and one part Campari. Lovely photo too. It just jumps off of the page. I’ll have to give this drink a try. I really like Campari and sweet vermouth together.
Sam
I am for the most party a wine (and sometimes beer) guy with but a few exceptions. I make a mean basil gimlet, love mojitos made with champagne as opposed to seltzer, and can occasionally be caught sipping a neat single-barrel bourbon on a cold winter’s night. This drink sounds so good, that I may need to make room for it in my limited non-wine repertoire. Thanks!
Something so classy about that
I’d hit it. (Did I actually just say that?)
All I can say is…Happy hour can’t come soon enough.
I love it when Sup gets Sippity! This post brings back memories. I’m probably giving too much away but when I was young I saw The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone and latched onto the Negroni, ordering it frequently as a personal homage to Miss Leigh. A few years later my grandfather opened my eyes to the boulevardier by telling me that the only reason you would ever drink a negroni was if you had ran out of bourbon. He was a wise man. Its a much better drink.
Trev. (Who is now trashing my post on The Manhattan and slinking back to the bar…)