Friday, August 03, 2007

Fried Cucumber Slices With Tomato

When a cooking/baking cohort suggested fried cucumbers, I nearly had a culinary siezure. I stand before you in naked humility. This recipe has been slightly modified; the end result was awesome!! Sometimes a recipe can not be perceived by the ingredients (as I found out); this one is a keeper.

Fried Cucumber Slices

1 Medium size Cucumber (9” – 10”) – skin on
Flour
Beaten egg
Parmesan Cheese
Garlic Powder
2 TBS Butter
2 TBS Olive oil
1 Small tomato

Serves 2

Have two separate bowls or dishes with flour – the first for dredging - no spice added. The second, mixed well with the garlic powder and parmesan.

Slice cucumber to ¼” rounds. Dry both sides with paper towel. Dredge in flour and shake off excess. Dip in egg mixture. Dredge once again in second bowl of flour (spiced/flavored)flour – shake off excess.

Fry in the olive oil and melted butter on medium heat, and turn only once. The finished cucumber should be golden and still have a little crunch to it – not soggy. Drain on paper towel, and cool.

Once the slices are cooled, top with thin (1/8”) slices of fresh tomato. Serve these cold without broiling them. Before serving, spritz or sprinkle a few drops of Balsamic vinegar on each slice. You can also do the same procedure and ingredients using eggplant or zucchini squash.

This is an excellent accoutrement to serve with a lamb roast, along with scrubbed, whole, oven baked new potatoes that have been coated with a top quality olive oil sprinkled with garlic powder and baked in a covered pan
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