Green Beans with Brown Butter and Almonds

Bring the 3 litres of water to a rolling boil in the largest pan you have.

Stir in the 30g of fine salt, which is about one per cent and should taste like a well-seasoned soup.

Salt the water properly. Unsalted water pulls salts and sugars out of the beans by simple diffusion, and nothing added at the end puts back what an under-salted pan takes out.

Fill a large bowl with the 2 litres of cold water and the ice.

Drop half the beans into the boiling water.

Wait for the pan to come back to the boil, which should take under 30 seconds.

Boil for 3-4 minutes, until a bean bends slowly under its own weight when held at one end and still snaps cleanly when you bite it.

Lift the beans straight into the ice water with a spider or a slotted spoon.

Blanch the second half the same way, once the water is back to a full boil.

Leave the beans in the ice water for 2 minutes, until they are cold right to the centre.

Do not skip the ice. A drained bean goes on cooking in its own heat for several minutes, and the bright green fades to the colour of old khaki while it sits in the colander.

Drain the beans and spread them on a tea towel to dry.

Melt the butter in a wide frying pan over medium heat.

Add the flaked almonds and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly, until the almonds are pale gold and brown flecks are settling out of the butter.

Take it no further than that. Butter goes from nutty to acrid in well under a minute at that stage, and the almonds burn before the butter does.

Add the dry beans and toss them for 2 minutes, until they are hot through and coated.

Take the pan off the heat and squeeze in the lemon juice.

Season with the ground peppercorns and flaky salt.

Serve straight away, though the blanching can be done a day ahead and the butter left until the last minute.