Concombres aux Champignons et a la Creme

Not the most obvious combination but it really works - cooking intensifies the flavour of the cucumber so it can hold its own with the mushrooms. I couldn't bring myself to put the oven on for an hour to cook one cucumber so I braised it on the hob, which worked fine and was a lot quicker - took about 20 minutes. The recipe suggests either dill or basil as an accompanying herb; I used basil simply because I had some to hand. Next time I may try omitting the herbs but using tarragon vinegar for the initial marination as I think that will work with both the cucumber and mushrooms. I recommend keeping an eye on the cream and mushroom sauce towards the end as it's easy to over-reduce - I had to add a drop of boiling water at the last minute.