Serve seafood in cucumber cups for refreshing hors d’oeuvres

By Jim Bailey
theyankeechef.blogspot.com

Whether you are a land-lubber or a shoreline lover, seafood during the summertime just makes life a little more sunny. And with the garden ripe for the picking, combining these two main ingredients is pure refreshment.

Cucumbers are my favorite because of their clean taste, this Yankee Chef even makes his own tartar sauce, not with relish, but with minced cucumbers. Cukes go great with absolutely anything seafood and especially when serving these tidbits outdoors or on the patio while your guests are sipping on a beverage before the entree. And before you ask me, yes, go ahead and use canned crabmeat if desired. Squeeze very dry, though, before adding.

Seafood cups with crab and lobster.

2 cucumbers, peeled
1/4 cup cream cheese
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup crabmeat, squeezed dry
2 ounces cooked, chopped lobster meat
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard
Cracked black peppercorns

Slice cucumbers into 1 1/2-inch thick slices. Scoop out half of the seeds, leaving a thick bottom to hold your crabmeat mixture. in a bowl, with a hand-held mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth. Beat in yogurt, hot pepper sauce and mustard until well combined.

Fold in the crabmeat and lobster and fill each cucumber “cup” with equal amounts of crabmeat mixture. Sprinkle with cracked peppercorns. Cover and refrigerate no more than a couple of hours because the water from the cucumbers will begin to seep.

Schiffer Books of Pennsylvania has released Jim Bailey’s new book The Yankee Chef: Feel Good Food for Every Kitchen. It contains more than 550 traditional New England comfort-food recipes tweaked for today’s palates with hundreds of kitchen tips and food facts. The hardback book is 312 pages and contains 200 color images. Its ISBN is 978-0-7643-4191-5 and the cost is $34.99. The book can be ordered through Misty Valley Books, 802-875-3400.