Stuffed Cucumbers

very nice for lunch

From 1896:

Here is a recipe which is very nice for lunch, and also inexpensive just now, while cucumbers are so plenty:

To stuff a cucumber to serve with meats, peel a medium-sized vegetable. Cut off the stem, save it, and with a little potato scoop remove the seeds, leaving the cucumber entire on the outside. Let the cucumbers thus prepared stand in ice water, to which a tablespoonful of vinegar has been added for every quart. After soaking them 10 minutes, put them in boiling water to boil for five minutes; then remove them carefully and lay them in cold water to cool. Meantime prepare a delicate force-meat, using the breast of a chicken for four cucumbers. Pound the raw chicken breast to a paste; add to it an equal amount of bread soaked in milk, two egg yolks and an even teaspoonful of butter with salt and pepper. Moisten the force-meat with a tablespoonful of white sauce, or cream, if more convenient, and stuff the cucumbers, using a smooth stick or the finger. Tie the bottom, cut off the cucumber in place and lay them gently in a saucepan with a tablespoonful of butter and a couple of tablespoons of stock, with salt and pepper. Cover them and let them cook slowly for half an hour, or longer, until done. Place them on a hot platter and pour a rich brown sauce or gravy over them.