Photo by Jonathan Lovekin
No matter how vast your umbrella, how tight the strings on your hood, rain is probably best observed from indoors. Listening to the rain is entrancing. I recommend taking a minute or two, eyes closed, totally still, just to listen. It is a sound that refreshes the soul.
Dinner is a fry-up, of sorts. The smell of apples and smoked bacon frying on a damp day brings everyone into the kitchen, plate in hand.
- Yield
- 2 servings
Ingredients
- 450g potatoes (about 2 large)
- 6 juniper berries
- 2 large apples
- 30g (2 tablespoons) butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 6 rashers smoked back bacon
- A small handful parsley, chopped
- 150ml (2/3 cup) crème fraîche
- 1–2 teaspoons grain mustard
Preparation
- Put a pan of water on to boil. Scrub the potatoes and cut them into large pieces, drop them into the boiling water and cook for ten minutes, then drain. Roughly crush the juniper berries. Cut the apples into quarters and remove the cores.
- Warm the butter in a shallow pan with the olive oil, then add the crushed juniper berries, apples and drained potatoes. Keep the heat low to moderate and the pan partially covered with a lid. Baste from time to time. As the apples and potatoes edge towards tenderness, add the back bacon to the pan and let it cook in the appley butter. Season with salt, coarsely ground black pepper and half the chopped parsley.
- When the potatoes are golden and the apples soft, remove everything from the pan on to warm plates. Tip away any fat, but not any delicious crusty bits stuck to the pan, then spoon in the crème fraîche and mustard. Bring to the boil, stirring constantly, then spoon over the bacon and apples.
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