Braised Cucumberrs
So yes, like so many others I saw the new film Julie & Julia and was intrigued when they mentioned braised cucumbers in the movie. I googled the recipe after the movie and we cooked them last night. Wow.
I hadn’t ever really given cucumbers much thought in the past. They are nice in a salad but for me they never held much allure on their own.
It would appear that what makes them neutral in a salad makes them amazing when braised. The cukes become translucent during the cooking process, and take on the subtle and amazing mixture of the lemon and the butter. When complete, they taste more like an artichoke heart and less like a cucumber… which is a great transformation.
Here’s the recipe. We found that you need a little more butter (always) and we needed to cook them about 15 minutes… but we used two large cukes so that obviously impacts ingredients and cooking time.
Braised Cucumber
1 huge cucumber (or 2 regular sized)
1 tablespoon butter
1 dash salt
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 pinch dried mint
Peel cucumber. Cut into quarters and remove seeds. Cut into 1 inch pieces.
Melt butter in a pan and add cucumber. Cover and cook about 5 minutes on medium heat.
Stir in salt, lemon, and mint. Cover and cook another 2 minutes.
I, too, was curious about braised cucumbers after seeing the Julie/Julia movie. I have 3 cucumbers left from my last harvest before the frost so am anxious to try this recipe. My onion chopping still leaves much to be desired, that part of the Julia experience is still a challenge.
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Tried this LOVE it. Thank you so much for posting!
~j
I’ve been trying to introduce simple but good receipies that contrain veggies to my sister and boyfriend. They basically are meat eaters and joke at the thought of having veggies. I’ve made the bruschetta and my sister loves it, the boyfriend thinks it needs some meat but I’m excited to try this tonight for dinner. Thanks for posting it!
Saw the movie today, and just made the braised cucumbers… kinda does remind me of eating artichoke. Yet when I place a forkful in my mouth, it feels like I am trying to bite water, I realize thats a funny description, but tis true. Quite interestingly good. Thanks for the recipe.
Yes, I too was intrigued when I heard braised cucumbersin the movie. Saw half the movie last night ,cant wait to see second half tonight with my braised cucumbers.
Cindy
ever since i was introduced to Julia’s work i absolutely love her and her food. im hopping to be able one day to make boeuf bourguignonne it has like forty steps. Plus i’m like 17 so my mom might not want me to cook something really complicated yet anyways i love her and Julie Powell. they both touched my heart
I have been making braised cucumbers for years as my grandmother always used to serve them as a side dish to lemon or dover sole, here’s the recipe.
1-2 large cucumbers, peeled and deseeded the cut in 3-4 inch strips.
a knob of butter about a large table spoon, a table spoon olive oil
sea salt to taste
1/2 a table spoon of brown sugar
2 table spoons of either white balsamic vinegar or lemon juice
1/2 chopped fresh dill or 2 tea spoons dried dill.
in braising pan heat up olive oil and butter, as soon as butter starts foaming add sugar stiring until disolved
add cucumbers and turn gently (you want them glossy and translucent)
then add sea salt and balsamic or lemon juice immidiately reduce heat or take off the heat tossing pan gently.
add fresh or dried till and toss untill most of liquid is gone but cucumbers are nice and glossy (not brown!)
this goes extremely well with all pan fried or grilles white fish.
I know it is not good form to say it while eating but…”Yum!”:)
I’m.watching Julie and Julia right now. I Google braised cucumbers right away at the mention to it in the movie! Very unique! Thanks for posting it!
The Le Cordon Bleu cookbook notes in a different cucumber recipe that Europeans place the cukes in a colander after slicing and lightly salt them, then let them sit for a little while. This draws some of the moisture out which apparently makes them a little less crisp when you cook them. They would dry them slightly with a clean dish towel, then cook them. Might be worth trying just to see what the difference is. I’ve always thought there should be more uses for these fruits than just in a salad and for pickles.
I only have chocolate mint growing in my garden. I wonder if that would work in place of regular mint leaves. I guess I’ll find out tonight.