Yogurt panna cotta with cucumber 'noodles'
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, eggplants 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” 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.
Cucumbers’ 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 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 really comes out in a beautiful and elegant cucumber and crab salad. The tender crab is a little sweet too and is tossed with herbs and shallots and a little lemon juice.
The cucumbers are sliced lengthwise into ribbons on a mandoline, and the slices are arranged architecturally -- forming layers between the crab, sort of like a napoleon, but looser, more floppy, 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 Providence pastry chef Adrian Vasquez, it would be a timbale of Greek yogurt and honey panna cotta with cucumber gelee and cucumber “noodles” with cantaloupe sherbet.
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, just 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, or more to taste, depending on the sweetness of the fruit. 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.
Cucumber gelee
Cut the cucumber into about 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 one-half 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.
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.
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 with the seeds.
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 a little chopped mint over the sorbet and serve immediately.
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