1 Melt the butter in a pot, then add your sliced cucumbers, season with salt and pepper, add a grating of nutmeg, and let them sweat covered for 10 minutes.
2 Pour in the cream, smoked duck breast strips, and fresh salmon, gentle cooking for 8 minutes, then add your chunks of Beaufort while stirring gently and turn off the heat.
3 Preheat the oven to 430°F (220 °C) (gas 7), then once it reaches temperature, place your dish in the middle of the oven and remove it 10 minutes later when it's lightly gratin. Serve for example with large slices of grilled country bread. Until the last century, cucumbers were served hot and used as side dishes. Tell me, isn't it worth bringing them back into the spotlight?
Over in Savoie, they make it in a pot the old-fashioned way with reblochon instead of Beaufort, but Beaufort holds up better to heat without becoming a mushy mess. Hot cucumbers, that's a trick from the 1950s we dropped for no good reason : they keep a light, almost melting texture. The key here : the salmon shouldn't cook more than 8 minutes in the cream, otherwise it flakes apart. A core temperature around 45-48 °C is enough. The smoked duck breast is what makes the difference : regular bacon strips give you something flat and dull.
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