Chicken with Cucumbers

Cooked cucumber sounds strange until you try it. When braised, cucumber chunks turn silky and tender-crisp with a mild, almost melon-like sweetness that pairs beautifully with the rich sherry cream sauce in this dish. It’s a classic European technique that most home cooks have never tried.

Quartered chicken browns in oil first, building fond in the skillet. Sliced mushrooms and garlic cook in those drippings, then flour thickens the base. Dry sherry, chicken bouillon, and water build the braising liquid. The chicken simmers covered for 30 minutes until nearly done, then peeled cucumber chunks go in for the final 15 to 20 minutes.

Sour cream stirs in at the very end, turning the pan sauce into a silky, tangy gravy. Don’t let it boil after adding the sour cream or it curdles. The platter presentation with chicken surrounded by cucumber chunks, draped in sauce, and garnished with raw cucumber slices is elegant and unusual.

Chef Tips

• Brown the chicken well on all sides before braising. That color equals flavor in the finished sauce.
• Peel the cucumbers that go into the braise. The skin gets tough when cooked and doesn’t break down.
• Add the cucumber chunks only for the last 15 to 20 minutes. Too long and they dissolve into mush. You want tender-crisp.
• Stir in the sour cream off heat or on very low flame. Boiling curdles it instantly.

Variations

• Use white wine instead of sherry for a lighter, more acidic sauce.
• Add fresh dill to the sour cream before stirring it in for a Scandinavian flavor profile.
• Try this with bone-in chicken thighs for richer, more forgiving dark meat.