Wet Weekend recipes: Strawberries, saffron and almond potatoes, salmon with orange & pink peppercorns

But no mind, even if it’s raining, we can still eat strawberries. I like them simple with a glossy trickle of balsamic vinegar and flecks of black pepper. Eighteenth century Londoners also enjoyed strawberries with black pepper. Strange it might sound, but strawberries also marry well with Dijon mustard, as I discovered recently when I went to visit the Maille mustard HQ!

I also made some saffron and almond roast potatoes, pink peppercorn and orange salmon en papillote for lunch which I feel is quite Spanish, despite the weather. Serves four.

Saffron/Almond Potato Recipe:

500g of peeled potatoes, cut into chunks
50g of slithered almonds
3 cloves of garlic
a few strands of saffron
Bay leaves
Sprigs of thyme
Olive oil
Sea Salt ( I use rosemary seasalt, available in supermarkets).

Put the potatoes into a large pan of salted boiling water for ten minutes. Then take off the heat and add the saffron strands. Leave for a couple of hours.
Drain the now yellowy potatoes and place in a baking tin with a generous lashing of olive oil.
Sprinkle the almonds, add the garlic cloves and bay leaves, thyme and sea salt. Mix until potatoes are nicely covered with the oily mixture.
Roast for fifteen minutes in a hot oven (200c or Aga roasting oven) or until the edges of the potatoes are crispy and golden.

Salmon with Pink Peppercorns and Orange Recipe

4 x 150g salmon filets, skin removed. (You can always roast/fry up the skin separately if you like it)
1 orange, thinly sliced.
1 tablespoon of pink peppercorns
Salt
Olive oil.

Make four squares from either tin foil or parchment paper. Place the salmon filet in each on top of 2 or 3 slices of orange. Sprinkle some pink peppercorns and a little salt over each filet along with some olive oil.
Close the parcels either by folding the tin foil or tying a little kitchen string around the paper.
Place in a baking tin and roast in a hot oven (200c or Aga roasting oven) for 15 mins.