Saturday, August 30, 2008

Chicken with Cucumber & Dill

The idea of sautéing cucumbers in butter to serve hot might sound a little odd to you, I know Matt was very dubious when I explained this dish to him, but it is really quite a tasty surprise. Once cooked the cucumbers have a slight sweetness & their texture becomes a lot like that of a cooked apple. Dill is of course the classic herb to use with cucumber. The lemon juice is really important to add vibrancy to this dish so don't skimp on it. I like to serve it over a little jasmine rice.
Chicken with Cucumbers & Dill
If like us you have a lot of cucumbers right now this is a perfect & unusual way to use one up.

Chicken with Cucumber & Dill
(adapted from Cooking Class Chicken Cookbook)

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salt
pepper
2 T unsalted butter
1 cucumber
1/4 t dried dill
juice of one lemon

Season the chicken breasts with salt & pepper. Melt 1 T of the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken & cook for about 10 minutes or until cooked, flipping halfway through. Remove the chicken to a plate & tent to keep warm. Keep the skillet on the heat.

Peel the cucumber & halve it lengthwise then seed it. Now cut the halves into 1/4-inch slices. Melt the remaining 1 T of butter in the same skillet. Add the cucumbers & season with salt & pepper. Cook the cucumbers for about 2 minutes & then add the dill & lemon juice.

Return the chicken breasts to the pan as well as any juice that has accumulated on the plate. Cook for 2 more minutes or until the chicken is reheated.

Serve pouring any sauce in the pan over the chicken & cucumbers.

Serves 2 but is easily doubled for 4

8 comments:

  1. This looks great. I remember the first time I cooked cucumbers for my husband - the thought I'd gone insane! So I've cooked cucumbers, and I've matched cucumbers and dill, but I've never thought of using either with something else like chicken. Very interesting and creative!

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  2. sauteing cucumbers does sound peculiar, but the end result looks good, and if you say they're like cooked apples, i'm definitely game. thanks for sharing this! :)

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  3. whoa@chiff...

    Anyway, I've used cucumbers in the place of zucchini before. I bet the butter was really nice with this. Hey, a chicken kiev with this on top would be awesome!

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  4. hey, what a great idea for cucumbers... and your chicken looks so good... :)

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  5. That is quite unusual - but so intriguing at the same time!

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  6. I like cooked cucumbers and sauteing them with dill and butter sound great!

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  7. This worked out great - thanks!

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