I love a home holiday; two weeks of long lazy days doing nothing, don’t you?  Well if you take out the wallpaper stripping our bedroom bit then who doesn’t.  Hmm, my husband actually.  He hates DIY with such a passion that I dread even having to even mention it.  His unique skill set lies in the world of negotiation and salesmanship not knee deep in peeling plaster and masking tape.

To enable that work/lifestyle balance and to ease the mounting tension pulsing throughout the entire house, we do half a day DIY and then head to the beach hut.  A fish supper and glass or two of something cold and about 11% proof usually does it.

Now while we’re painting the bedroom walls white, we could give the laundry room a fresh lick of paint ….  darling?  Darling? Zzzzzz.

Fish Parcels (per person)

3 new potatoes, precooked and thickly sliced

small handful of green beans, blanched for 3 mins

2 tablespoons of fresh coriander, finely chopped

1 salmon fillet, or cod

juice and zest of half a lime

1 spring onion, finely sliced

half a teaspoon of fresh ginger

few slices of fresh green chilli

splash of white wine

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Fold a 60cm piece of baking paper in half to make a 30cm piece.

Place the sliced potatoes to just below the middle with the green beans on top.  Add the salmon fillet and finish off with the lime zest, juice and spring onion, ginger, chilli, adding a good splash of white wine, salt and pepper and then you are ready to seal up your parcel.

Simply fold over again horizontally and then fold over each side so you have a neatly folded parcel which can be prepared in advance while you chat with friends and get the barbecue ready.

Barbecue for 15 minutes on medium coals or in a 200C/375F/Gas Mark 5 oven for 15-20 minutes