Cucumber Vanilla Jam

It's cucumber time.  I don't know why I plant so many cukes.  We can't possibly eat them all.  And, there doesn't seem to be any decent way to preserve them other than pickling.  I'm the only one in the house that eats pickles, and even then, I don't eat that many.  I still have dozens and dozens of pickles from the 2013 season that I'll probably end up throwing out.

I only planted four seeds.  Maybe I grow them because they are always successful.

Anyway, once again I am on the hunt for cucumber recipes.  I found this one for a quick Cucumber Vanilla Jam on Pinterest, here.  The author's measurements were in grams.  I'm used to our good ol' American "cups, tablespoons, and teaspoons", so I used my little kitchen scale and converted the grams into cups.  It turned out pretty tasty and was simple to make.  It would be a nice addition to a fancy brunch or wedding shower.

Cucumber Vanilla Jam

1 1/4 cup peeled, grated cucumber (about three medium cucumbers)

scant 3/4 jam sugar

Seeds from one vanilla pod

Peel the cucumbers, slice in half and scoop out the seeds with a spoon.  The Pinterest recipe said to use two medium cucumbers, but I had to use three to get the required amount of grated cukes.  I used my food processor to grate them.  It took, like, two seconds.

The recipe also calls for the seeds from a real vanilla bean, which, being the mighty chef that I am (haha), I actually had on hand.  (Shout out to Costco for stocking vanilla beans for the masses)

To get the seeds out, use a knife to split the seed lengthwise, then just hold it open and scrape them out with the knife.

Put the sugar, grated cukes, and vanilla bean into a small pot.  Those black spots are the vanilla bean seeds, which are teeny tiny and sticky, so they clump together until you stir the mixture well.

See the specks that look like pepper?  Yummy vanilla bean seeds.

Let this mixture marinate for two hours.

Then, Over high heat, bring to boil and simmer for five minutes or until the jam coats the back of a cold metal spoon.

Transfer to a clean jar, close the lid and allow to cool upside-down.  The lids will seal.

I used two jars because I'll probably give one away since I won't use this up quick enough.  

Store in the refrigerator.  Since this isn't "canning", it isn't preserved and probably will only last about ten days in the refrigerator.

I also found a suggestion on Pinterest for dehydrated cucumbers.  So before I got started on the jam, I sliced up several cukes with my amazing Breville food processor (also, took seconds), and put them in the dehydrator, sprinkled with chili powder.

These were awful.  Ugh.  Don't do it!