Gabi's braised cucumbers

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 2 braised cucumbers, or regular salad cucumbers out of season
• 2 medium-sized potatoes, waxy
• 2 m.-sized onion(s)
• 1 garlic clove(s), more if desired
• 200 g minced meat, seasoned
• 250 g tomatoes, pureed
• 150 g tomatoes, fresh, chopped
• Sugar
• salt and pepper
• flat-leaf parsley
• marjoram
• basil
• e.g. Worcestershire sauce, or Ketjap Benteng Manis
• Crème fraîche (herb)
• butter
• olive oil

Instructions

Working time approx. 20 minutes; Total time approx. 20 minutes

with tomato sauce and basil

Peel the cucumbers, potatoes, and onions. Deseed the cucumbers. Cut everything into small cubes. Finely chop the garlic clove. Knead the minced pork with 2 teaspoons of fresh or 1 teaspoon of dried marjoram and form into small balls, then chill. Finely chop the herbs. Heat the butter and olive oil in a pan and sauté the cucumber, potatoes, and onions. Sprinkle with a little sugar (I always use brown sugar) and let it caramelize slightly. Then add the tomatoes and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes. If using cucumbers, proceed as described above, but only add the diced cucumber after about 10 minutes. Add the minced pork balls and let stand for another 10 minutes (do not simmer!!). Season to taste and serve sprinkled with herbs. Tip: If you like it spicier, you can add pickled green peppercorns to the minced pork. Instead of the pureed and chopped tomatoes, you can also use a 400g can of chopped tomatoes. You can replace the basil with dill.