INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

Here is my gourmet Friday recipe. >From the Cordon Bleu cooking
school.  Puff Pastry Cases with Salmon and Asparagus and a Lemon Butter
Sauce  SERVES 6  This combination or pastry, vegetables and fish is a
typically modern  creation in which each element is prepared
separately. The vegetables  are an integral part of the dish, rather
than simply a garnish, and  the sauce is the essence of simplicity
(butter is whisked into lemon  juice, seasoned and served). In all,
this is the sort of light French  cooking that many young chefs prefer.
Prepare the puff pastry.  Preheat the oven to 230 C (450 F) mark 8.
Lightly brush a baking  sheet with the softened butter. Sprinkle with
water; set aside.  Prepare the pastry cases (see technique
photographs): dust a work  surface with flour. Roll out the puff pastry
about 3 mm (1/8 inch)  thick and cut into 6 rectangles, 10 cm (4
inches) long x 6.5 cm (2.5  inches) wide. Or, use an oval cutter of
approximately the same  dimensions, if available. Transfer the shapes
to the baking sheet  with a palette knife. Brush the tops with egg
glaze. Be careful not  to let the egg drip over the edges of the
pastry, or it will not rise  evenly. Refrigerate for 10 minutes. When
chilled, brush again with  egg glaze and bake for about 25 minutes,
until puffed and golden.  Leave to cool.  While the pastry is baking,
cut the salmon into escalopes: working  from tail to head, run your
fingers along the surface of the salmon  fillets to detect any small
bones; remove them. Holding the knife at  a shallow angle to the fish,
cut the salmon into 6 equal portions, or  escalopes. Set the salmon
aside.  Stem the spinach and rinse the leaves in several changes of
water,  then coarsely chop it. Melt 30 g (1 oz) of the butter in a
saucepan  over medium heat, add the spinach, and cook, stirring
frequently,  until the moisture has evaporated. Season to taste with
salt and  pepper; cover to keep warm.  Snap off and discard the tough
ends of the asparagus. Starting 2.5 cm  (1 inch) below the tip, peel
each stalk with a vegetable peeler. Tie  the asparagus into several
even bundles with fine string. Bring a  large saucepan of salted water
to the boil. Add the asparagus and  cook over high heat for 10-12
minutes, until tender. Drain and cover  to keep warm.  Prepare the
lemon butter sauce: cut the butter into small pieces.  Bring the lemon
juice to the boil in a small saucepan and reduce by  half. Whisk in the
butter little by little, until the sauce is  creamy. Season to taste
with salt and white pepper; keep warm off the  heat in a saucepan of
hot water.  Cook the salmon: season both sides of each escalope with
salt and  pepper.  continued in part 2

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