Michelin-star chef Michael Smith, of the Loch Bay Restaurant in Skye, creates two classic dishes that are simple to make at home.

Holding a fresh, bright green pea pod and gently squeezing it so it pops open to reveal a row of perfectly shaped peas, is one of life's great simple pleasures.

But let's be honest, not many of us have time to sit down and open several bags of pea pods in order to get enough to make a pot of summer pea soup.

Restaurant review: Sea Breezes is a true island gem

What better to do on a windswept night on Skye, as a storm lashes at Portree's quaint little harbour, than to sample some of the freshest seafood the Misty Isle has to offer?

Having spent most of the day getting battered by the island's temperamental micro-climate, trekking through mud and clambering across stones for a better view of some stunning scenery, we were in need of a good port in a storm.

And we found a real treasure in Sea Breezes.

Nestled at the end of the quay, its lights beckoned us inside after a taxi driver had educated us on the rights and wrongs of the world from his perspective as a Skye native, born and bred.

With only a dozen or so covers in the tiny restaurant, we were lucky to get a table for two at the weekend.

Several large parties of foreign tourists ended up getting turned away – our enthusiastic smiles must have won over the maître d' because she quickly found us a table that had just been vacated.

Our host later told us it's best to book ahead, as the island can be very busy during peak tourist times – good advice, we mused, as we perused the reasonably priced wine list.

150 Lochaber jobs threatened as Mowi unveils preferred plans to shift processing operations to Skye

Bosses at Mowi, the world’s largest salmon farming company, have revealed they would “prefer” to relocate work from Lochaber to the company’s new base on Skye – a move that would affect 150 jobs.

The plans to create a one-stop facility at Kyleakin have been favoured by bosses of the fish farm giant.

But any move to put all the jobs under one roof would affect the future of its harvest station in Mallaig and its processing plant at Blar Mhor in Fort William.

Crews battle Skye house fire through the night

Four fire crews battled tirelessly into the small hours to curb a house fire on Skye.

Crews from Portree, Uig, Dunvegan and Broadford attended the blaze at the one and a half storey building at Borve, after an initial call was received shortly after 10pm.

A fire service spokeswoman said: “We received reports of a dwelling fire at Borve in the north of Skye shortly after 10pm.

“Reports relayed back to us indicated that the domestic property was well alight.

“Crews used two main jets, two hose reel jets, four breathing apparatus and a couple of ladders to extinguish the blaze.

“A stop message was received at 2.03am.”

The property was significantly damaged and the cause of the fire has not been established. Police were made aware.