Grill the Cucumber
We tend to think of cucumbers as cool and fresh, best chopped and served in salads or salted and pickled. But there is beauty in the cooked cucumber, especially on the grill.
Cooked cucumbers are surprisingly sweet and aromatic, with a heady aroma similar to but not identical to zucchini. Due to their extremely high moisture content, they remain firm when heated strongly, giving a spear with a crispy juicy inside and a deeply aromatic appearance. I love fried cucumbers much more than I was ready, that’s what I’m talking about.
And intense heat is key when grilling these babies – you don’t want to fry your tortillas, you just want to give them a little outer color and charring. The larger your segments, the colder and stronger they will stay inside. I have grilled cucumber halves and quarters and both are fine, although cutting into quarters will reveal additional surface area for browning (and browning equates to taste). As for the rind, you can leave it on or peel it off. I love the bitterness they add and they blister nicely.
Apart from working with a knife (and / or knife), fried pancakes require little or no preparation. Toss them in with just enough oil to coat them – anything neutral is preferred, but I used cheap olive oil and they turned out great – and hit them with a few generous pinches of salt. Roast over high heat until lightly browned, bubbled, and tender. Let them cool to room temperature, then drizzle or drizzle with salty, sour dressing or sauce, or chop and stir into salad. I also think they’ll make a killer tea sandwich. You know what it is – cream cheese and white bread will always benefit from being small, and there are at least five of them on fried cucumbers.