In the Waitrose yesterday and spotted lovely new potatoes from Cyprus. “Oh my goodness I bet they would be the perfect accompaniment for that lemon sole I picked up from the fishmonger a couple of weeks ago. Hey, I also have gloriously green and fresh broccoli in the fridge,which I need to use.”

So here we are, the start of what I promise to be a culinary delight for me and my family. I absolutely love my food and so do all of those who eat with me. Well cooked fish being something we enjoy often. Fish can be a daunting food to serve. In my younger years I shied away from serving it but can now prepare seafood confidently knowing it will be a delight on the plate and palate.

The potatoes simply need a scrub and a boil;

the fish fillets benefit from a dusting of plain flour in preparation for their pan fry in butter;

and the broccoli need only a brief bath in boiling water.

But a couple of extra touches is what will transform this plate of food from nice to delightful.

Potatoes love to be moisturised after bathing as do we, so after you have thrown out their water, offer their pan a dod of butter, sprinkling of parsley and some lemon rinds. Keep the lid on and flavours will infuse.

The broccoli will thank you for its lovely hot bath but as we all know we can only tolerate hot submersion for a brief period, so don’t let them suffer too long. Get that water out soon after they have reached boiling point. Lid on and let steaming continue until serving.

Lemon sole fillets are delicate and need only a brief cooking time so get that butter up to a good heat and let the flour become like a gentle batter browning as it cooks on either side for a couple of minutes.

Timing things. As potatoes are hardiest get them on first; fish needs most prep and care and broccoli enjoys a brief bathe. Get to know your produce and use their individual characteristics in curating plates of fresh, hot and tasty goodness.