Julia Child, baked cucumbers, and Mastering the Art of French Cooking

Over the Labor Day weekend I headed out to the movies to see Julie & Julia, which combines the stories from Julia Child's My Life in France with Julie Powell's blog (and later book) about her journey through Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking (actually written by Child and Simone Beck, with some contributions from Louisette Bertholle). I'd picked up Powell's book and leafed through it at the bookstore when it first came out a few years ago, but didn't go any further. However, when the movie came out - well, who can resist Meryl Streep - especially Meryl Streep playing the very unique Julia Child? I'd seen some stories about the rapid rise in popularity of the hefty cooking tome generated by the movie - but before going into the theatre I thought "nah - I'm not soooo interested in French cooking that I'd plunk down big bucks for Child's cookbook." Then there was the scene in the movie in which Powell has a dinner party and serves baked cucumbers.

Baked cucumbers. Who'd have thought that cukes - so delicious when freshly sliced and served with a touch of salt, or blended into a chilled soup (cucumber green tea and gazpacho come to mind) - who'd have thought that these members of the melon family could be baked into anything that didn't resemble a dish of watery mush? Julia Child, that's who. And with that short bit of film I was suddenly hooked. Fast-forward through a few days of contemplation, an emailed coupon for 15% off any book, and a trip to my local Barnes & Noble, and I had my very own copy of Mastering. And on page 499, I found the introduction to a short section on how to bake cucumbers (concombres).

Child helpfully notes that the moisture in cucumbers must be reduced before baking - but blanching removes water as well as taste. Instead, the book suggests "a preliminary sojourn in salt draws out the water...yet leaves the flavor, which a little vinegar and a pinch of sugar accentuates." And indeed this does the trick precisely - combining the newly dewatered cucumbers with a bit of butter, dill, onion, and pepper, then baking for an hour yields a dish that tastes delicious, retains just a slight bit of crispness, and adds a bit of variety to the normal vegetable rotation (okay, technically cukes are a fruit - but like squashes, tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers, they are still "vegetables" to most people).


Stay tuned for more adventures with Mastering the Art of French Cooking - although I don't intend to cook my way through the entire collection of 500+ recipes (aspics, live lobsters, and deboning ducks just aren't my style) - I did spot some recipes in the film and in my perusal of the book since that I am looking forward to testing myself.

Cool Cucumber and Green Tea Soup

Lucerne (the "store brand" at Safeway) makes a light green tea yogurt that I've used previously as a fruit dip. I thought that it might also make a good base for a cold cucumber and yogurt soup, so I whipped some up for the coming week's lunches. A small taste test reveals that...this was a great idea!

Cool Cucumber and Green Tea Soup (4-5 servings)
2 large cucumbers, peeled and chopped
1 cup green tea yogurt + 1 cup plain yogurt (or 2 cups plain)
2 T. fresh dill, minced (or dill paste)
1 T. fresh ginger, minced (or ginger paste)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T. lemon juice
pepper and salt to taste
1 cup water (if desired)

1. Mix cucumbers, yogurt, dill, ginger, garlic, lemon juice, pepper, and salt together in a large bowl and stir until the cucumber pieces are coated with yogurt.

2. Use a food processor or blender to puree the mixture in batches. If the mixture is too thick, add water until the desired consistency is reached.

3. Chill for at least 1 hr. and serve. Garnish with sprigs of fresh dill or thinly sliced cucumbers, if desired.