TASTE
Cool off with cukes
By Betty Hallock and Donna Deane
Los Angeles Times
Who doesn't love a cucumber?
Picklers, slicers, green or yellow, smooth or bumpy, thin- or thick-skinned, chubby Kirbys, little cornichons, English, Japanese, Persian. Good thing then that with the impending heat comes cucumber season.
They peak with the tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and those other cucurbits, squashes and melons, but among all these, cucumbers are the most like Johnny Depp — very, very cool. With their refreshing herbaceous flavor and their snappy crunch, cucumbers are exactly what we want to eat right now — still (they've been cultivated for more than 3,000 years).
And they lend themselves to the way we want to cook right now, too — with a sort of easy abandon, pureed in soups, chopped into salsas, sliced into salads. A favorite two-sentence recipe for cucumber, mango and red onion salad from Alice Waters' "Chez Panisse Vegetables" (HarperCollins) goes like this: "Peel and thinly slice cucumbers, mango and sweet red onion — about the same of each, but exact proportions do not matter at all. Season to taste with freshly squeezed lime juice and salt, and garnish generously with cilantro leaves."
Chopped into yogurt, you have "raita" for spicy Indian dishes. Or sliced, with a little white vinegar, sugar, salt and green onions, they're more Hapsburg Empire, served with cold poached salmon or chicken.
Cucumber's flavor is often described as mild, yet it's distinct enough to hold its own, slightly sweet and slightly bitter. It's great featured in chilled soups such as green gazpacho or Russian "okroshka." Cool, creamy yogurt (or creme fraiche!) — as with the raita — is a no-brainer for cucumbers. (Dress sliced cucumbers with yogurt, stir in some dill, cilantro, basil, chervil or chives, and serve with cured salmon.) And for a chilled soup, cucumbers and yogurt couldn't be better matched, spiked with a little garlic and a touch of white-wine vinegar and garnished with crunchy radishes and grains of sea salt.
Their light sweetness comes out in an elegant cucumber and crab salad. The tender crab is a little sweet, too, and is tossed with herbs, shallots and lemon juice.
The cucumbers are sliced lengthwise into ribbons, and the slices are arranged architecturally — forming layers between the crab, sort of like a napoleon, but looser, floppier, more ... summery.
And what makes a better palate cleanser than a cucumber granita? Icy cool with a hint of sugar and some cracked black pepper, it's perfect for a hot, hot day. The flavor of the cucumber shines through the sweet and the spice.
For dessert? If you were Adrian Vasquez, pastry chef at Providence in Los Angeles, it would be a timbale of Greek yogurt and honey panna cotta with cucumber "gelee" and cucumber "noodles" with cantaloupe sherbet.
First, the crab salad:
CRAB SALAD WITH CUCUMBER
Break up any large pieces of crabmeat with a fork.
To make a lemon vinaigrette, combine the lemon juice and shallot in a small bowl. Whisk in the canola oil. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the chives and chervil.
Pour the lemon vinaigrette over the crabmeat and gently stir with a fork until evenly coated.
Slice the cucumbers lengthwise into very thin strips. (A mandoline works best.) You will want about 6 strips of cucumber for each serving, or a total of 36 cucumber strips.
For each serving, lay the 6 cucumber slices out flat and squeeze a few drops of lemon juice from a wedge of lemon over each cucumber slice, then grind a little black pepper over the cucumber.
To assemble, measure 1/3 cup crab salad for each serving. Place a cucumber strip on a plate, then some of the salad onto the cucumber, then top with a second slice of cucumber, rippling and folding the cucumber in an attractive manner. Repeat using the remaining cucumber slices and crabmeat. Repeat this procedure for the remaining servings.
Makes 6 servings.
This impressive dish is composed of four sub-recipes.
YOGURT PANNA COTTA WITH CUCUMBER 'NOODLES'
For cantaloupe sorbet:
In a blender or food processor, puree the cantaloupe until smooth. Set aside.
In a small saucepan, bring the sugar and 6 tablespoons water to a simmer, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature. Add 2 to 3 teaspoons of the syrup to the cantaloupe puree. Add the lime juice to taste. Remove the puree to a small glass loaf dish and place in the freezer, stirring every 20 minutes to half an hour until frozen enough to shape into quenelles, 2 to 3 hours.
For cucumber gelee:
Cut the cucumber into 1-inch chunks and process in a food processor or blender until pureed. Strain the puree through a cheesecloth-lined mesh strainer to extract the juice. You should end up with 1/2 cup juice. Discard the solids.
Soften the gelatin in a small bowl of cold water. Combine the cucumber juice and sugar in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until warmed, about 1 minute. Squeeze the gelatin sheet to drain and stir it into the cucumber mixture until dissolved. Stir in the lemon juice and season with a pinch of salt, or to taste.
Chill the mixture in the saucepan over a bowl of ice water, stirring occasionally, until the mixture just begins to thicken, about 15 to 20 minutes.
Oil the sides only of four (6-ounce) ramekins. Spoon the cucumber gelee evenly into the bottom of the four ramekins. Chill until almost set, about 2 hours.
For yogurt-honey panna cotta:
Soak the gelatin in a bowl of cold water to soften. Meanwhile, warm the honey in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-low heat just until it thins out, 1 to 2 minutes. Squeeze the gelatin sheet to drain any excess moisture and stir it into the honey to dissolve. Stir in the yogurt until blended. Chill the pan in an ice bath until the mixture thickens and mounds slightly, about 30 minutes. Carefully spoon the mixture evenly into the 4 (6-ounce) ramekins over the gelee layer. Chill until set, at least several hours and preferably overnight.
For cucumber noodles and assembly:
Slice the cucumber lengthwise into thin "noodle-like" strips, preferably using the julienne setting on a mandoline. Slice the cucumber on one side until you reach the seeds, then turn the cucumber and slice the second side down to the seeds. Discard the center of the cucumber.
Dress the noodles with lemon, salt and sugar. Let stand about 15 minutes for the flavors to blend.
Divide the noodles among 4 serving plates, arranging each portion in a small mound on the plate. Unmold the panna cotta next to the noodles and top the noodles with a small quenelle of cantaloupe sorbet. Sprinkle chopped mint over the sorbet and serve immediately.
Makes 4 servings.
Cucumbers for dessert? You'll be surprised.
CUCUMBER GRANITA
Peel two of the cucumbers, but leave the peel on the third cucumber for color. Rinse the cucumbers to remove any residue.
Trim the ends off the cucumbers and slice them in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds. Cut the cucumbers into 2-inch chunks and puree them in a blender or food processor along with 1/4 cup water. Add the lime juice, sugar, pepper and salt.
Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker, and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.
Spoon the granita into a chilled glass dish until it is firm enough to hold its shape. Serve a small scoop in a bowl as a palate refresher between courses.
Makes 6 to 8 servings.
