Cucumbers farcis (cucumbers stuffed with meat)

Cucumbers. Stuffed with meat. Poached in the oven.

This is one of the weirder-sounding recipes in From the Hearth. So, of course we had to try it.

Farci means to stuff, especially with meat. There are is a surprising variety of foods that the residents of Louisbourg stuffed – see recipes for eggs and cabbage.

Ingredients

6-8 cucumbers

Forcemeat stuffing:

1 lb ground veal (or substitute ground chicken)
1/2 lb beef marrow
1/2 cup mushrooms, finely chopped
1/4 cup green onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
pinch of nutmeg and cardamom (optional)
1/4-1/2 cup fine bread crumbs (optional)
2 egg yolks (optional)

Poaching liquid:
1-1.5 cups beef bouillon

I made a half-recipe, including nutmeg and the egg yolks, but without cardamom or bread crumbs. Also, ground veal is hard to come by. I substituted ground chicken.

I wasn’t able to find field cucumbers at my local veggie store, so I went with English cukes (the French citizens of Louisbourg are turning in their graves as a result).

To fit the long English (Anglais?) cucumbers in my casserole dish, I had to cut them to fit, but this didn’t seem to impact the results. I didn’t peel them or blanch them either.

Instructions

Roast the marrow bones at 375-400F for about 30 mins (from frozen). 

Peel the cucumbers (didn't do it). Cut in half lengthwise. Blanch for 2-3 minutes and drain well (didn't do it). 

Remove the seeds. Optionally, cut into smaller sections. 

Scoop the beef marrow out of the bones and into a mixing bowl. Add the other forcemeat ingredients and mix until well combined. 

Arrange cucumbers in casserole dish with a lid. Spoon forcemeat stuffing into hollows, leaving it heaped above. Pour bouillon into bottom of casserole. 

Cover and poach for 15-20 minutes (original recipe) in a slow oven (200-250F). 

*** Note that it took closer to 40 minutes before the forcemeat reached the correct internal temperature for ground chicken (165F). Check with a meat thermometer to be sure. 

I got some frozen marrow bones at my local butcher. I put them with the larger marrow opening upwards and roasted them from frozen. Didn’t really keep track of the time … just pulled them out once they started smelling good.

It was hard to guess how much marrow I needed, particularly because the original recipe gave it in pounds. I ended up not using quite all of this, because it started to seem kinda decadent.

The forcemeat mixed together pretty well, although the marrow had more structure than I expected and was the aspect that necessitated more mixing. It was a lot of forcemeat for the cucumbers, so they were pretty full.

I found the original time listed to be way less than required, especially at the lower temperature. I went for the lower temperature (200F) initially, because it seemed like a good idea (never having cooked cucumbers before).

I ended up bumping the oven up to 250F after the initial 20 minutes, and taking around 40 minutes total to cook the filling to the appropriate internal temperature for ground chicken.

The Verdict

I was very skeptical of how poached cucumbers would turn out. I mean, cucumbers don’t seem like the most robust veggie and they are full of water.

Surprisingly, they were still quite crunchy (sort of like dill pickle texture) and held their shape when picked up out of the dish.

We ate them cold the next day (because they took 25 minutes longer to cook than expected, and we’d already finished dinner by the time they were done). They were great cold too.

Maybe I’d make these again, in smaller segments for a starter or in their full length as the main dish (they are a bit meaty for a regular vegetable side).

Ultimately, these leftovers lasted a long time in the fridge (which doesn’t happen when everyone loves a dish). So this one likely won’t be in frequent rotation at our house.

Did you make this dish? Let us know in the comments!