French Cucumber Salad with Sour Cream and Dill

 

 

I first had this dish many years ago in Lyons, France. It was prepared by an excellent cook who was also a medical researcher I was visiting. The salad was the cooling starter course for dinner on a warm summer evening. It’s easy to make, particularly if you use a vegetable slicer for slicing the cucumber. Although the salad was originally finished with crème fraiche (French cultured heavy cream), American sour cream or plain Greek-style yogurt do almost as well.

 

The recipe serves six as an appetizer course or side dish for dinner.

 

2 large regular cucumbers or one long (plastic sleeved) cucumber

8 ice cubes

1/2 teaspoon salt for preparing cucumber plus 3/4 teaspoon for seasoning the salad

1 small shallot or 1 large scallion (green onion)

1 tablespoon white vinegar (wine or distilled)

1 teaspoon sugar

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoons freshly minced dill (reserving 1 teaspoon of it for garnish)

1/4 cup crème fraiche, sour cream, or Greek yogurt

 

Peel cucumbers thinly, leaving some green color. Quarter them lengthwise. If the seeds are large, cut off and discard seed section. Slice cucumbers very thinly (a vegetable slicer makes this easier). 20 minutes before serving time, mix sliced cucumbers with ice cubes, enough water to reach the surface of the cucumbers, plus 1/2 teaspoon salt. Mix together gently and allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes. Drain well.

 

Slice shallot or scallion (green part also) very thinly and add to the cucumber. Add vinegar, sugar, pepper, most of the dill, and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Stir well. Allow to sit at least 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste for salt and add a little if necessary.

 

Just before serving, drain away the juices. Add crème fraiche, sour cream or yogurt and mix in well. Taste and adjust salt, if necessary. Spoon into a shallow, attractive dish and dust with the reserved dill.

 

Chicken Sautéed with Fresh Herbs – Pollo alle Erbe

 

 

With fresh herbs lush in my garden right now, I was reminded of a delightful dish I first had many years ago in Tuscany outside Florence at the home of a college friend of my wife who had moved to Italy and married an Italian. Nancy cooked the dish while we talked and nibbled homegrown olives and oiled, garlic-rubbed bread. I remember that she sautéed the chicken in their own olive oil and deglazed the pan with local white wine. I can’t recall for sure if she finished the dish with cream, but I now do that. She probably didn’t use cream, which is not as common in Tuscan cooking as it is further north in Italy. More likely she finished the dish with grated Parmesan. But I’m sticking with cream.

 

She served the sautéed chicken with some sort of pasta. I also recall that she, her husband and I drank a light-bodied Chianti with dinner, that was made by a friend in their town.

 

For the chicken as I make it, a good accompaniment is a pasta or rice dish, or polenta or seasoned grits. A colorful vegetable like broccoli or asparagus goes well, as does a simple salad. At a fancy Italian dinner the salad would be served after the main course, but for a simpler meal, especially at home, the salad can be served with the main course. Italians would include bread freshly cut or torn off  the loaf to sop up the sauce.

 

A light-bodied red wine like Chianti or Pinot Noir or a fuller-bodied white wine like a Chardonnay or Viognier, in my opinion, pair nicely with this. Italians, especially at home, traditionally drink their wine from small tumblers rather than stem glasses.

 

The recipe serves six people, but leftovers are enjoyable.

 

1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast (2 large or 3 medium breast halves)

1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper plus 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch for the chicken

3 tablespoons (loosely packed) chopped fresh herbs (at least three of the following: chives, sage, marjoram, rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil, mint)

4 tablespoons thinly sliced shallot or onion

1 medium clove garlic, minced

2 teaspoons minced parsley for garnish

3 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup white wine

1/2 teaspoon salt for the sauce, plus more to taste

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup water

 

Trim off fatty or tough parts from the chicken. Cut each breast piece lengthwise down the middle. Then slice each piece crosswise into 1/8-inch thick slices. Mix sliced chicken well with the salt, pepper, and cornstarch. Set aside.

 

Coarsely chop an assortment of at least three fresh herbs to make a total of 3 tablespoons. If using heavier-flavored herbs like rosemary, marjoram or thyme, use a little less of them and more of the lighter-bodied herbs. Set aside.

 

Prepare the shallot or onion and the garlic. Set them aside. Mince parsley leaves and set aside 2 teaspoons of them for eventual garnish.

 

Heat a large frying pan to medium hot. Add olive oil, and as soon as it’s hot, add the marinated chicken and stir and fry it until the color has fully changed. Add the prepared herbs, shallot or onion,  garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir the chicken well and cook one more minute while stirring. Add wine and stir and fry for another minute to dry down a little.

 

Add the sour cream and water, stir well while continuing to fry until boiling and sour cream is well mixed in. Remove from heat. Taste the sauce and add a little salt if needed.

 

Serve with pasta, rice, polenta or grits. Sprinkle with minced parsley.