Peakes of perfection

THIS week I have been asked to cast my mind back over the year and come up with my favourite recipes for that perfect millennium meal.

The almost impossible task off picking out a dream three-course dinner to enjoy on the eve of the Year 2000 has cost me many sleepless nights.

Looking back over a year of delicious and tempting dishes featured in the Lancashire Evening Telegraph is no easy task, knowing that I had to pick out my three favourites.

The appetiser, main meal and dessert were not only chosen for their divine decadence but also because the complement each other superbly.

Each of the courses works well for either that special romantic meal spent with a loved one or for a sumptuous dinner party on what should be the biggest party night of all time.

A few months ago you may remember me enthusing about an appetiser I enjoyed when invited to a dinner party at a friend's home.

It was a SALMON MOUSSE of such intense flavour, yet light and delicate at the same time, that I lavished my entire vocabulary of superlatives on my blushing friend.

It transpired that her genuine modesty was proportionate to the freshness of the salmon used to make this mousse. The salmon had, in fact, come straight out of a tin. I bet that we have all at one time in our lives made a meal for someone and led them to believe that the sauce or whatever was made totally by our own fair hand when, in truth, we had a little help from a packet, jar or can. I urge you to make this salmon mousse, which is ideal as an appetiser for 12 people. I would like to express my most sincere thanks to Mrs Glynnis Birchall for kindly giving me this recipe and allowing me to share it with the readers of this newspaper.

INGREDIENTS

2 large tins of red salmon (418g)

1 large carton double cream (284ml)

3 teaspoons lemon juice

2-3 sachets of gelatine

1 cup of water

White pepper

tablespoon mayonnaise

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT NEEDED

FOR this mousse you ideally need a 2 pint mould.

It should preferably be a pressure-release mould, enabling easier removal of the mousse.

REMOVE any bones and skin from the salmon and place in a food processor.

Add the lemon juice and any juice from the cans of salmon, season with white pepper, then "whizz" in the processor until a paste is achieved.

Whisk the cream then fold into the salmon mixture.

Fold the mayonnaise into the salmon mixture. Make up the gelatine as per instructions on the packet. Fold the gelatine into the salmon mixture.

Pour the mixture into your "wetted" mould and allow to set overnight in the fridge.

Glynnis serves the salmon mousse with asparagus (out of a tin, of course) and melba toast.

FOR the main course I've chosen BREAST OF CHICKEN WITH WILD MUSHROOMS. This recipe uses a quarter bottle of dry white wine. I do not suggest that you use an expensive wine but also do not use the cheapest you can find. A good rule of thumb is that if you would pour it in a glass and happily drink it, then it is good enough for cooking with.

Saute is a word you may or may not be familiar with. It comes from the French verb sauter, meaning to jump or leap.

In cooking, saute or sauter means to cook over a high heat with small amounts of fat so that the food "jumps" with force in the pan as it cooks.

If your chicken breasts are not jumping slightly, either there is too much butter in the pan or the heat is not high enough.

It is one of the simplest ways to bring out their natural succulence and tenderness, provided they are not overcooked. However, extreme care should be taken they are not undercooked or you risk the danger of making your diners ill, and your reputation as a good cook could be in the balance.

INGREDIENTS

(Serves four)

4oz butter

4 chicken breasts (6-7oz)

Salt and pepper

2 tbsp finely minced shallots

1 garlic clove finely minced

4oz mushrooms (thinly sliced)

Juice of half a lemon

Quarter bottle dry white wine

200ml chicken stock

MELT 2oz butter in a thick bottomed shallow frying pan. Add boneless breasts of chicken, season with salt and pepper.

Saute for five minutes on each side.

Transfer to a dish and set aside.

Melt the remaining 2oz butter in the same pan and add shallots, garlic, mushrooms, lemon juice and white pepper.

Cook until the moisture from the mushrooms has evaporated.

Add the wine and chicken stock continuing the cooking until the liquid has almost evaporated.

Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the cream and cook further until sauce begins to thicken. Return the chicken breasts to the pan, allowing the chicken to heat through, absorbing the flavour of the mushroom wine sauce.

MY DESSERT recipe for this meal to end all meals holds a special place in my culinary heart.

I discovered it almost 20 years ago while working in Florida.

It is an American classic dessert which, regrettably, has not been accepted by the British with the same enthusiasm as their other memorable desserts.

I am shocked and embarrassed to calculate that I have eaten well over 500 portions of this dessert alone - Guinness Book of Records material or what?

KEY LIME PIE is to be found in almost all restaurants in the Sunshine State and is made with limes from the Florida Keys.

Be warned that you will be asked for second and even third helpings so I would make more than one. The fact that it does not store well and really needs to be eaten on the day of making will not be a problem.

Limes grow, of course, not only in Florida but in any country with a hot climate. This obviously excludes our own and most limes in our shops are from Spain and Israel, which are almost as good.

THE PASTRY

5OOg plain flour

250g butter

125g icing sugar

I whole egg

2 egg yolks

Q pint milk

CREAM the butter, sieve the flour and icing sugar and mix with the butter.

Add the eggs and milk.

Mix everything together and knead to a smooth paste.

Cover with cling film and store in fridge for at least three hours before using.

ROLL out the pastry on a well floured surface (approximately 3mm thick). Line an 8in flan case with the pastry.

Line the pastry with greaseproof paper and then place on any dried beans you have to hand.

This is purely to weigh down the greaseproof paper and pastry while the pastry bakes at gas mark 7 for 20 minutes.

Remove greaseproof paper and dried beans.

Brush the pastry with one lightly beaten egg and bake for a further five minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

KEY LIME MIX

INGREDIENTS

3 egg yolks

3 egg whites

1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

4 limes squeezed and rind removed

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

BEAT the egg yolks in a bowl and combine with the condensed milk.

Fold in the lime rind and juice. Beat the egg whites until stiff with the cream of tartar, and then fold into the condensed milk mixture.

Spread into your baked pastry case and bake for 15 minutes only, 190 degrees C/Gas 4.

Leave to cool and set

THE TOPPING

EITHER pipe or spread with whipped cream that has been sweetened with a little caster sugar and decorate with rind and peeled segments of fresh lime.

The above is compiled by restaurateur Ray Peake, of Callums Bistro, Accrington.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.