In cooking school, we made buttered cucumbers, which are the most disgusting thing I’ve ever eaten (in my humble opinion). By peeling and cooking the cucumbers, the characteristic crunch was rendered at best slippery, at worst mushy. I swore off ever cooking a cucumber. Then my friend Tim Mazurek (of the lovely food blog Lottie + Doof) wrote about charring cucumbers, and I was newly intrigued. I tried it and was in love. The key is to get a ragingly hot frying pan, to blot as much of the liquid as possible from the cut side of the cucumber to ensure a good sear, and to cut the cucumber large enough to keep the internal structure of the vegetable in place even after being cooked. For doneness, I look for a dark, almost burnt crust, and a slight softness to the cucumber structure. Leave the skins on the cucumbers when blistering, as they will act as insurance to keep the cucumber together even after cooked. The slightly burnt flavor of the charred skin combined with the warm temperature epitomizes how changing one little thing can make a vegetable feel new and fresh, reinvigorating its role on your table.
