Cucumber Cups Filled With Herbed Yogurt And Smoked Salmon

Total Time: 24 hrs Preparation Time: 24 hrs

Ingredients

• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1 seedless cucumber, 14-16 inches
• 3 scallions, minced
• 1/3 cup minced fresh dill, plus
• dill sprigs (to garnish)
• 1/4 lb thinly sliced smoked salmon

Recipe

• 1 drain the yogurt in a fine sieve set over a bowl, its surface covered with plastic wrap, chilled, overnight.
• 2 cut the cucumber crosswise into sixteen 3/4-inch pieces and with a melon-ball cutter scoop out the centers, forming 1/4-inch-thick cups.
• 3 sprinkle the cucumber cups with salt and let them drain, inverted, on paper towels for 10 minutes. in a bowl combine well the yogurt, the scallions, the minced dill, salt and pepper to taste.
• 4 pat the cucumber cups dry gently and divide the yogurt mixture among them.
• 5 cut the salmon into eight 6- by 1/2-inch strips, halve the strips diagonally, and roll them up, beginning with the pointed ends and turning the edges slightly, to form rose shapes.
• 6 arrange the salmon roses and the dill sprigs decoratively on the yogurt mixture. the filled cucumber cups may be made 1 hour in advance and kept covered and chilled.