Cucumber Mayonnaise for Sandwiches

We have some left over roast chicken which the boy has sliced up for sandwiches tomorrow. We have some nice brown bread so I’m making him this to have in them. It’s equally nice served just as a side dish.

1 medium cucumber or 2 small ones

6 big tbsp. good mayonnaise

½ tsp Dijon mustard

2 spring onions

1 tsp capers

3 sprigs mint

A splash of tarragon vinegar

Peel the cucumbers lightly - you don’t want to dig too deep as you still want them looking nice and green. I’m not letting the boy help with this for obvious reasons. Cut them in half down their length and then chop them into small dice. Put them in a sieve and sprinkle with salt. This will draw out a lot of the water and intensify the flavour. Leave them for half an hour. Listen to some 1920s jazz and mellow out. Pat the cucumbers dry with kitchen paper.

Get the boy to slice the spring onions into fine rings. He can go a fair way up the green part, until they start to get tough. Normally I’d watch him, but he knows this is a sandwich filling, so I can trust him to get this exactly right.

I’m glad that’s it’s almost impossible to buy mayonnaise, in the UK, that hasn’t been made from free range eggs, but buy the best quality that you can. Add the mustard and some sea salt and black pepper and mix well. Add the boy’s spring onion rings. Chop the mint and add that along with the capers. The salted ones are so much nicer than the ones in vinegar. If using the latter, rinse and drain them well.

Stir in the cucumber and mix it all well. Get  the boy to taste for seasoning – remember that the capers will have added a little extra salt.

Finally add a teaspoon of tarragon vinegar to give it a little sharpness and give it a final stir.

The boy would be happy to have this on its own in the sandwich with the chicken, but I’m stuffing in a layer of watercress before he can stop me.