Ratatouille Pasta

This is a re-do of my old Ratatouille pasta post back in October of 2008. Since then, I have changed up a few things such as photos, cooking technique, and substitutions. However, my original recipe takes place back in 2001 with my first time using Eggplant. A Belgian lady I worked for bought an eggplant and asked me if I could incorporate it into a meal for her children. Even though I had never even cut into one, I graciously accepted it and started to work. After cutting it open, I thought about mixing similar vegetables, adding some fresh herbs, and serving it over pasta. I think it worked out pretty good as the children enjoyed it (or they didn't know the difference). Since then, I decided to improve on it and soon learned of a similar dish called Ratatouille. To that effect, I named this dish after it. This is actually a perfect recipe that incorporates almost all of the ingredients in an Italian Pack from Bountiful Basket!

 Ingredients:
Pasta- Penne or Bowtie, cooked
 1 eggplant
1-2 yellow squash
1-2 zucchini squash
 1/2 sweet onion, cut in wedges
2-3 small Tomatoes
1 Bell pepper
Aged Cheese
Salt and Pepper as desired

Herb Paste:
Olive or Grape Seed Oil - About 1/4 cup
Balsamic Vinegar- About 1/4 cup
Juice from 1/2 to to 1 whole lemon
2-3 cloves of Garlic, chopped
2 sprigs of Italian Parsley
2 sprigs of Oregano
3-4 leaves of basil

Directions for herb paste- Blend all ingredients together until paste-like texture.

Directions:
Cut all vegetables spread out onto a baking sheet. Pour all herb paste into pan and mix with vegetables.

 

Broil in oven for 10-20 minutes or until roasted (desired doness)

 Serve over pasta and sprinkle with cheese and a little bit of fresh herbs.

Options and Substitutions:

• Mix and match bell pepper colors
• Use any pasta that would go well with vegetables
• You can us a zip bag to mix all the vegetables and herb paste together
• Even though this is a meatless meal, it goes well with chicken, Italian sausage, or steak. 
• To make gluten-free, this dish can be served over rice pasta, rice itself, or served alone.

Split Pea and Ham Soup

This is a re-do of my split pea soup recipe I posted back in 2008. Since that time, I have actually written down my measurements, taken better photos, and have provided more substitution ideas to accommodate preferences in making this fabulous bowl of goodness! Of all of the soups out there, this one tops my list of favorite soups. I especially look forward to it after Easter when I make a ham. I believe that this soup can be full of surprises. In fact, when people tell me this is not a soup they would look forward to eating, they are speaking from their past experiences that have included their soup coming from a can, cafeteria, or their aunt Fae. None of which can compare to homemade split pea soup.

A little bit about dried peas; they are a great staple food and can be kept for a long time in your food storage. Like Lentils, they do not require soaking. They are a great source of vitamins and making baby food with them is a must. As far as cooking, you can substitute them in anything that calls for peas (after they are cooked of course).

I try to make it count when I make this soup which means a big batch. Then I can freeze it for later times when no one will eat this soup but me ;). However, this soup is not a lot of work and very easy to make. 

Homemade Split Pea Soup

Ingredients:
1 pound of dried Peas
1 large Ham bone*
(with most of the meat off of it)
1  small Onion
4 stalks of Celery
4 Carrots, peeled
4 cloves of Garlic, smashed*
5 sprigs of fresh Parsley*
4 sprigs of fresh Thyme*
 2-3 small dried Bay leaves*
4+ cups of water
4+ cups of chicken stock*
1-2 cups of ham, cubed*
1 cup of Plain Yogurt*
Kosher salt to taste
fresh cracked pepper to taste


Optional Ingredients:
1-2  Potatoes*
1 cup Cauliflower, pureed
1 cup of Pumpkin, pureed
Potato Flakes if needed to thicken
Milk to thin out if needed


Step #1-Wash Peas

 Always wash and short dried peas.
You never know if there is a rock or something in with your peas.
Wash thoroughly in a strainer.

Step # 2- Assemble Soup Based

Whether you use a cast iron pot (which I recommend) or a stock pot, just make sure that have a pot tall enough to hold all your ingredients plus 8 cups of fluid. Because this is a pureed soup, you don't have to chop up your ingredients as much as you think. Especially the carrots because I like to take out most of the carrots to cube and put back into the soup. If your peas are really old, you may soak your peas before hand.You can also use your pressure cooker to cook this soup base in half the time.

Put peas, carrots, onions, celery, garlic and ham bone in the pot.

Add Liquid
Add 4 cups of water and 4 cups of chicken stock. I like to use my pre-made chicken stock cubes I keep in the freezer.

Place herbs: Parsley, Thyme, and Bay leaves on top.

Step # 3- Cook for 1-2 Hours



Bring to a boil and then simmer for 1-2 hours or until peas are done. You may need to add more water and/or stock as the water reduces. You will know the peas are ready when they look like they are falling apart or they are softer. They don't have to mush in your finger to be done.

Step #4- Make your Puree

Take out ham bone, bay leaves, and most of the carrots (if desired). You may also take out the rest of the fresh herbs or puree them with the rest of the soup.

Puree with an immersion blender or put soup into a food processor or blender.
 

Step # 5- Add Additional Ingredients

Add your ham, carrots, yogurt, salt, pepper and any optional ingredients. Mix in.

This recipe does make a lot. I freeze my leftovers in individual quart sized freezer bags for later times. This soup will be thick when you need to re-heat it. Just add some water or milk to it and it will be perfect again. Enjoy!

Substitutions
*Ham bone and ham- if no ham bone use, regular cubed ham or no ham at all.
*Garlic- If no fresh garlic, use 2 teaspoons of garlic powder or dried garlic.
*Parsley and Thyme-If no fresh, use frozen or use 1 Tablespoon of each dried
*Bay leaf- Use one large fresh bay leaf in place of 2-3 small dried.
*Chicken Stock- If no chicken stock, use water with chicken soup base in it. If you are going for vegetarian soup, just use water or vegetable stock.
*Yogurt- You can use sour cream, whole cream, canned or fresh milk. You can also omit this if you have a milk allergy.

* Potatoes- If you are wondering about cooking the potatoes and carrots, I will either put them in with the soup base until they are done and scoop them back out before the peas are done although it is easier to put them in a cheese cloth so everything comes out at once (careful not to leave them in too long or you will just have to puree them with the peas).You can always cook them on the side and add them to the soup or used canned or frozen carrots and potatoes from you food storage.

Does anyone even like Split Pea Soup?

Pollo Asado Pasta

This is a re-do of my original Pasta de la Salsa con Pollo that I created back in 2009. I thought my original dish needed a little flair and flavor with out using as many herbs and seasonings. The transition to Pollo Asado brought out the full potential of all the ingredients by simply changing the order and preparation of the ingredients and taking out all but one seasoning. Along with roasted chicken breast, this dish has roasted peppers, tomatillos, onions, and grape tomatoes; served over cilantro and green chile infused pasta.

Ingredients:
2 Large Chicken Breasts (I prefer them the with ribs still in them)
2 Bell Peppers (red, green, yellow, or orange)
4 Tomatillos, husks removed
1 Small package of Grape or Cherry Tomatoes
1/2 to 1 Whole red onion
Garlic Salt (as per directions)
Grape seed or Canola oil (as per directions)
Lime juice (as per directions)

Directions: Roast chicken in broiler until done. Cut up Tomatillos, onions, and peppers. Spread all of them out on a baking sheet or roasting pan. Spray or toss with approximately 1/4 cup of Grape seed oil. Sprinkle liberally with garlic salt. Roast in the Broiler for 10-15 minutes or until blackened.

Ingredients for Infused Pasta:

For 4 cups of cooked Pasta-

1 Bunch of fresh Cilantro

1 (4oz) can of Green chiles (with the juice)

2 Teaspoons of lime juice

4 Tablespoons of Butter or Olive oil

1 Tablespoon of Chicken Bullion (equivalent to 1 cube)

Directions: Puree Cilantro, green chiles, and lime juice. Cook pasta and drain water. Melt butter over pasta. Stir in chicken bullion. Add Puree and mix until incorporated. 

Serve with roasted chicken and veggies and top with Parmesan or Jack Cheese.

Suggestions and Substitutions:

1-You can use real garlic cloves and roast them along with the veggies. Mince after roasted and add back to veggies.
2- You can substitute regular or canned diced tomatoes for the grape tomatoes.

3- If you don't have garlic salt, you can use garlic powder and a little salt.

4- You can use olive oil, it is just doesn't hold up as well when heated at high temperatures.

4- A few additions I have added in the past. Black beans and tortilla strips.
5- For a gluten-free version, substitute cooked rice or mashed potatoes for pasta.
6- With leftovers, I will use roasted chicken and veggies for a quesadilla, omelet, or for fajitas.   

Zucchini and Beans with Salsa

It may not look pretty, but it sure tastes good!

I got this idea from my friend.  here is the "recipe"

1 Can of black beans (I actually used dry beans and pre-cooked them...)

 

1 Zucchini

a little olive oil

A little garlic salt

a little chili powder.

a little peach mango Salsa (I get mine at Costco)

corn tortillas (or flour if you are not GF)

Some cheese.

heat the olive oil in a fry pan with the garlic salt and chili powder.

Add the beans and cut up zucchini.  Saute it until done. Add peach mango salsa.

At this point we put it on plates and ate it.  BUT if you want you can put it on tortillas, and top with cheese and put it in the oven until cheese is melted.  I was thinking while eating it that instead of grated cheddar some feta might be nice over the top of it!

Food Challenge: From Ordinary to Orignal

Food Challenge:

Make something bigger or better from something you normally have.

We often have baked potatoes for dinner and sometimes, baked potatoes just seem plain or ordinary to us. Of course there is always a stuffed baked potato option for dinner and that can range from having chili, broccoli and taco meat a top this ordinary spud. However, I have to admit that I have never tried my baked potato with Alfredo sauce covering the veggies and grilled chicken, what a treat! This idea came from my favorite restaurant Claim Jumper. They have what they call a Giant Stuffed Baker on their menu and making it at home was not a hard thing. So, try something new from something old or something original from something ordinary for this month's food challenge.

Giant Stuffed Baker Imitation

from Claim Jumper:

Giant Baker Potatoes (Idaho Potatoes are always nice ;)

Grilled or baked chicken (shredded or diced)

Steamed Veggies such as broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, zucchini, etc.

Alfredo Sauce- I used Heather C.'s Alfredo sauce recipe (click Here)

I topped it with bacon bits, dried red peppers, and chives.

Delicious!

Another Irish dish Colcannon

Photo by Madeline L.

OK... I had never heard of this before, but I mentioned to my husband that we were making corned beef and he said we should try colcannon. He saw it on a cooking show and thought it looked interesting. I looked online and there are many different ways to make it, you can use potatoes and cabbage or potatoes and kale for instance, and many different ways to spell it (Col Cannon, Kohl Cannon). There is even a difference of opinion on where the dish originated from. Some say it is from Scotland others Ireland and I even found a few places that stated it was German. I did finally find a recipe that sounded good partly because they took the liberty of adding bacon, which is probably not very authentic, but sounded tasty. I found the recipe on about.com kids cooking.

Colcannon
3 pounds russet potatoes (I used small red)
1 Tbsp. olive oil (I used the left over bacon grease, see below)
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups shredded cabbage (or kale)
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup butter, divided
1/3 cup half and half
2 slices cooked bacon

Peel and dice potatoes. Place in a large pot and cover with water by one inch. Bring to a boil, covered, over high heat. Remove cover, reduce heat to medium, and allow potatoes to cook 12-15 minutes, until tender when softened, about 3 minutes. Add cabbage, season with salt and pepper, and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Drain potatoes and return to pot. Season with salt and pepper. Add two tablespoons of the butter and the half and half. Mash. Fold in the cabbage mixture and the bacon. Top with the remaining butter.

"Fresh" Corn and Bean Salsa

Photo by Madeline L.

Here is a delicious Salsa I've put together with some corn out of my freezer.

Fresh Corn and Bean Salsa

Ingredients:

Corn 1 cup

Black Beans 1 cup

Cilantro 1 large handful Diced

Avacados 2 cubed

Tomatoes about 3-4 Romas or one case of Cherry 

(Any kind works, this picture shows Cherry Tomatoes halved) 

Green Onions 4-5 Springs

Cumin, Salt, Pepper, and Garlic Powder to Taste

This salsa is a great addition to Chicken, beef, pork, or fish tacos.

From Frozen to Fresh: Tomato Bisque

What better way to enjoy a rainy day then with a bowl of hot and savory Tomtato Bisque. The idea occured to me when my next door neighbor brought me some with a small warm loaf of bread. What a sweet thought on a cloudy day. She and I both had the opportunity to freeze a bunch of tomatoes last fall and now, she is putting them to great use by making this wonderful creation. This week was chosen to be Frozen Food Week and we challenge everyone to get something out of your freezer (that you might have been preserving or not) and make something "fresh" (meaning something new).

Terah's Homemade Tomato Bisque
4 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
2 Onions- thinly sliced
1 carrot
6 cloves of Garlic
1/2 gallon bag frozen, 3-4 lbs of fresh, or two 35 oz cans of Tomatoes
1 large Butternut squash cooked and cut up (optional)
8 large fresh Basil Leaves
Pinch of sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
4 cups of chicken broth
1/2 tsp of Allspice
2 cups of Whipping Cream

Directions:
Melt butter in large soup pot. Add onion, carrot, and garlic. Cook over medium heat. Add tomatoes
Squash (optional), basil, sugar, salt and pepper for 5 minutes. Add stock and Allspice and slowly bring to a boil. Slightly cover and simmer for 50 minutes. Puree mixture in small batches using a blender or food processor. Add pureed soup back into pot and add cream. Test for seasonings. You can make a day ahead and add cream just before serving. Makes 8-10 servings.

Potatoes All Around

Idaho Potato Website with other great recipes: http://www.idahopotato.com/ Being from Idaho, I am surprised that I don't have any of my hometown recipes on here that use the grand potato. One thing I love about this staple food is that they usually go on sale and can be stored for months in a brown paper bag. But, like many staple foods, I don't always use up all of them up before they go bad. I have canned potatoes before I invested in a deep freezer and now I want to freeze almost everything! It is so fast, easy and saves money and time in the end. Try it for yourself.

For great Idahoan Funeral Potatoes:

Ingredients:
8 med Idaho potatoes sliced or shredded
1 1/2 cups of grated cheese (I use half sharp Cheddar and half Monterey Jack)
1 can of Cream of Chicken soup (For gluten free version, you can make your own chicken sauce)
1/4 cup of chives
1/4 cup of minced onions
1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper
1/2 -1 Tablespoon of Dill Weed
2-3 strips of crumbled cooked bacon or equivalent measurement of bacon bits
1 1/2 cups of Sour Cream
1/4 cup of melted Butter
1/2 - 1 cup of crushed corn flakes (Can use potato chips or bread crumbs if you want instead)

Directions:
Combine all ingredients, except butter and corn flakes. Place in a 9x13 pan, drizzle melted butter over top; sprinkle crushed corn flakes last. Bake @ 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

For whole or half potatoes:

Clean and Bake until done (don't forget to poke some holes in them with a fork), place on a sprayed sheet pan and freeze, then put into a freezer bag.

To re-cook, bake as usual until done (should not take as long as normal).

For future Mashed Potatoes:
Clean and (peel if desired) cut into cubes and cook in a simmering salt water bath until done.
Drain and Lay out on a sprayed sheet pan and freeze until solid.
Place in freezer bags.
Prepare as usually for any recipe that calls for cubed potatoes or cook and mash.


Or, if like to use sliced potatoes for soups, Scalloped potatoes, or even recipes that layer potatoes:

Cook whole or half potatoes in simmering salt water until mostly done, slice, and lay out on a sheet pan, freeze until solid and then place in freezer bag.


Do you think that freezing potatoes would be something you would do or do you not cook with potatoes that often?

Tyler Florence's Scalloped Potato Gratin

Tyler Florence's Scalloped Potato Gratin

This is definitely my FAVORITE potato dish ever! The picture above is from the Food Network website...i have made this dish twice and i forgot to take a picture before we dug into it! It is very rich and full of flavor, you MUST try this dish, its DELICIOUS!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 C Heavy Cream

1 sprig fresh Thyme

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 nutmeg

Butter to coat baking dish

2 pounds Russet potatoes, peeled and sliced to 1/8 in. thick slices

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 C fresh grated Parmesan Cheese

Preperation:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter baking dish and set aside. In a saucepan, heat cream with thyme, garlic and nutmeg. Layer sliced poatoes, cream mixture and cheese as if you were making lasagna. You should come out with 3 or 4 layers of potatoes, then top with parmesan cheese. Bake uncovered for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Potato Lovers

Sorry for the little delay in the challenges this month. What was supposed to be introduced earlier this week will be intriduced at the end I guess. It is Potaoto Lovers month guys and I can't tell you how much this means to me (and not because I am from Idaho either). I love potatoes! Any way you cook them, I know I would eat them.

There are so many varieties of potatoes out there and so, our challenge to you this month is to try to cook with a different potato than you are already used to or cook your usual potatos in a new way. I have a post to follow this one but, I wanted to get started on the challenge. I made a different kind of loaded potato (only I used a sweet potato). It turned out so delicious that I didn't even notioce that I didn't have butter, sourcream, bacon, cheddar cheese and all that other suff. Here's how I did it:

Madeline's Loaded Potato

Saute in Olive Oil:

Asparagus

Red and green peppers

Onions

Zucchini

Fresh or dried Rosemary

Garlic

Dill

Salt and Pepper

Throw in some Grilled Chicken

Baked yam or potato (wrapped in or out of tin-foil) in a pre-heated oven set at 400 for 30-40 minutes.

Top with sauted veggies and some Parmesan Cheese.

How Do You Take Your Potatoes?

Stuffed Mushrooms



Photos by Madeline L.

These are super simple to make and you can change them up any way you want. I make them all the time that they make the perfect snack.

Mix together:

1 softened package of cream cheese

some minced onions

and some shredded Italian cheeses

You can add what you'd like from there.

Cut the stems out of your mushrooms (you can cut up the stems and put them back into the cheese mix too). I like to pack my cheese mixture into the mushrooms like this picture shows. Then, I top it with some more Italian cheese.

Put your mushrooms into a pre-heated oven set at 350 degrees for like 5-10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

*

Madeline made these and sent me the pictures. She added some Paprika and Chives to give these mushrooms a little color. She also used a different mushroom that I ususally do but, I'm sure any small mushroom that you can stuff would be good.

Winter Squash Meets Harvest Lasagna

Whenever I can, I love to add fruits and veggies to my meals, ecspecially being married to a picky eater who doesn' have much of an opinion of vegetables. Among pastas and pizzas, Lasagna's are the most requested from my husband. The nice thing about making lasagnas is that you can throw almost any kind of veggie into this delightful chessy cuisine, making it your own special creation. I actually like to think of it as a harvet lasagna so to speak. My typical harvest lasagna consists of Carrots, Zucchini, Spinach, and Tomatoes for the veggies of choice. Since I'm storing so much squash this year, I decided to add some cooked Butternut squash to my Ricotta Cheese mixture in my Harvest Lasagna. The result was fabulous. Who knew vegetables could taste so good!

Recipe for my Harvest Lasagna with Winter Squash

Ingredients:

Whole Wheat Lasagna Noodles (9)

2 cups of Ricotta Cheese

1 Egg (slightly beaten)

1/2 cup Parmasean Cheese

2 Teaspoons Oregano

2 Teaspoons of Parsley

1 Teaspoon Minced Garlic

1 Teaspoon Dill Weed

Olive Oil

Sharp Chedder Cheese

Mozarella Cheese

Favorite Spaghetti Sauce or Seasoned Tomato Sauce

(I actually like to use 1 can of diced Italian Tomatoes and 1 jar of Spaghetti sauce)

Veggies of Choice (use any and all):

Butternut, Acorn, or other favorite winter squash

Zucchini

Carrots

Spinach

Asparagus

 Broccoli

Directions:

Layer # 1 Cheese Mixture:

Cook Squash as desired. While cooking, mix Ricotta Cheese, seasonings, and egg together. Spoon out cooked squash and mix with a little butter to make it creamy. Stir into Cheese mixture.

Layer # 2- Lasagna Noodles:
Cook Lasagna noodles by boiling until almost tender (don't over cook).

Layer # 3- Veggies with Sauce:
Thinly Slice all Veggies and saute together with Olive Oil an minced garlic (just so they are slightly cooked). (You can also blanch or steam them). Put partially cooked veggies in a sauce pan and add (can of diced tomatoes) Tomato or Spaghetti Sauce. Simmer until ready to layer in lasagna.

Assembly:
In a Deep Dish Baking Pan, pour a little Veggie mix along the bottom of pan, followed by these layers:
3 Noodles, Cheese mix, Veggie Mix, 3 Noodles, Cheese Mix,Veggie Mix, 3 Noodles, Cheese Mix and thenVeggie Mix. Top with Shredded cheeses (sharp chedder and Mozarella). You can also put some shredded cheese in between layers for a cheesier lasagna.

To Cook:
Cover with tin foil, bake in a pre-heated oven set @ 350 for 1 hour and then uncover and cook for an additional 15-20 mintues. Let it cool for at least 5- 10 minutes.

Mustard Pickles

This is a recipe of my husbands grandmother. He grew up eating them. He loves them. I have to say I had never tried them until I meet my husband. I don't know that I can really say I loved the pickles when I first tried them, but I have grown to like them. They are kind of an acquired taste and after that are kind of addicting. And if it is your first time ever trying a mustard pickle go for the smallest ones. (Less potent) My kids call them the hot pickles. (not that they are spicy) I was going to post a picture of them in the container they are store but it doesn't look very appealing, so you will have to try them yourselves.
The pickles are stored and mixed in a crock. If you don't own a crock (they can be quite expensive) don't go out and buy one. A good substitute we have found that we actually used this year was a water cooler. Kinda different but it worked.

Crock Mustard Pickles

1 gallon Vinegar
1 cup. Salt (pickling)
1 cup. Sugar
1 pkg. 3oz Pickling Spice 1 lb. Mustard (Dry)


Mix 4 dry ingredients. Add a little vinegar and mix. Then add remaining vinegar and add cucumbers. Makes enough to cover 1/2 crock full of cucumbers.

Pastrami Pickles

This creation was passed onto my husband by his aunt Carol who made these since he could remember. They are fast, easy and great for parties. Better yet, they taste better than you'd think. They can become addicting so watch out!

This one pretty much explains itself.

1 Whole Dill Pickle

Cream cheese to spread over

(I have also used Laughing Cow Cheese)

Wrape in a thin slice of Pastrami

Slice and serve chilled.

Delicious.

Pink Pancakes AKA Beet Pancakes

I know, I know, beet pancakes weird huh? They are good and the best part is my kids love them!

I buy fresh beets and steam them in a steamer(or boil on the stove), then make a puree in the food processor. Usually I do this in bulk and freeze 1/2 cup portions in zip lock baggies.

The recipe:

3/4 cup water

1/2 vanilla yogurt

1/2 beet purree

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup pancake mix

1/4 cup grated apple

olive oil or canola oil for pan

Combine the water, vanilla yogurt, beet puree, vanilla, and cinnamon in a bowl mix well. Add the pancake mix and apple, and stir until just combined. The batter will be a little lumpy. Use a griddle or large nonstick skillet to cook pancakes. Use medium heat, add oil. Cook pancakes for about 2 minutes on each side. Serve warm, with syrup, powder sugar and/or fruit.

Cucumber Sandwiches

Before I finished my spring semester in school, I was studying about the United Kingdom. Of which, I studied traditional English cuisine. I thought about making things such as Spotted Dick or the traditional fish and chips and may still do so. But, one simple English snack that I had tried before- the cucumber sandwich- was something that I wanted to share for a taste of England. You can find my class notes and other information (with pictures) about England by clicking here.

Thinly slice your cucumber. Some may suggest peeling them but, if you buy an English cucumber, I don't even bother.

(As you can see, mine are not as thinly sliced as normal which makes them better to layer on your sandwich)

You can buy an English cucumber or regular although I've read and experienced that :

It is generally sold wrapped in plastic to reduce water loss, and so is usually not waxed and therefore does not need peeling.
It is usually called seedless (which is an outright lie), but its seeds are much smaller and less prominent.
It is the seeds in a cucumber (and especially in an aging cucumber) that make it bitter, so a semi-seedless English cucumber is less likely to be bitter
It has been bred to be more easily digested than some other varieties (fewer burps).

(Copied from http://www.ochef.com/189.htm)

Soak you slices in some White wine vinegar (or regular vinegar) and water for 30-40 minutes.

I let mine soak in my salad spinner. This way after they soaked, I dumped extra vinegar out (without touching the cucumbers) and gave it a quick spin to release the excess
(otherwise, you would pat them with a paper towel).

Then sprinkle salt and pepper on as desired.

To prepare your bread (usually white bread), butter both sides with real butter. At this point you can cut of the crusts now or after placing the cucumbers on them. So, place your cucumbers accordingly on your bread and cover with the other end.

These are a great appetizer or snack you and your company to enjoy!
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Do you think that this is something you'd like to try or have you tried them already?