Chef Curtis Gamble invited TABLE Magazine to spend a day in his kitchen with simple recipes and springtime flavors. We started our day together with the plate of English Cucumber Salad with Kefir Dressing. Chef Gamble had our full attention with this first delicate and delicious plate. “I look for ways to be reductive,” Curtis says, explaining his keep it simple ethos. “Limiting myself to a certain ingredient or idea leads to creativity with texture, salt, fat, and acid. Allowing space and room for flavor to breath is a skill.”
The Story Behind Curtis Gamble’s Cucumber Salad
As always when good food hits the table, stories were shared. “I grew up with a single mom, very food insecure, and that has had the most impact on the way I like to cook,” Curtis recounts. That meant a simple, healthy dish like English Cucumber Salad with Kefir Dressing went a long way. “Whether my mom was breading off-cuts like chicken livers in seasoned flour and frying them or pulling potatoes and spring onions from our modest garden, we would always eat humbly but well-seasoned. My first real job was as a prep cook at a big-box rib joint, and from there I never turned back. One foot in front of the other took me from culinary school to the restaurants that shaped my career.”
By the way: you might be wondering… What is an English Cucumber? Cucumus sativus was bred by vegetable experts to optimize the perfumed freshness of cucumbers while minimizing the cucumber characteristics people sometimes complain about. Thick skins and too-copious seeds are on that list!
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English Cucumber Salad with Kefir Dressing
Description
A healthy salad with a tart, fermented dressing.
Ingredients
For the cucumber salad:
- Kefir dressing (Recipe below)
- 2 seedless English cucumbers, thinly sliced
- Shallot, sliced into thin rings
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Feta
- Fresh dill
- Aleppo chili
For the kefir dressing:
- 1 cup milk kefir
- 2 tbsp dill, minced
- 2 tbsp parsley, minced
- 2 tbsp chives, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves
- Zest and juice of 2 lemons
Instructions
- Add all dressing ingredients to a tall cup or bowl and, using a hand blender, puree to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- To finish, in a large mixing bowl, add dressing, cucumber, shallot and salt and pepper, to taste. Adjust acidity with extra lemon juice. Spoon onto a serving platter laying as flat as possible. Sprinkle feta, fresh torn dill, and Aleppo chili and serve immediately.
Recipe by Chef Curtis Gamble
Styling by Keith Recker
Photography by Dave Bryce
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