Nothing compares to the taste of homemade pesto. It has been a staple in our house forever. These days it is starting to feel like a luxury as the price of pine nuts has gone up so much (stop it, I know – listen to me!) but it’s a luxury I’m prepared to shell out for.

I love pesto with farfalle (perhaps a little too much), I often use it on pizza or mixed with some goat’s cheese in tortellini. However you like to enjoy your pesto it will be all the sweeter for making your own.

Homemade Pesto

A large bunch of basil, leaves picked

A handful of pine nuts

A handful of finely grated Parmesan

1 small clove of garlic (or a big one if you love garlic)

The juice of half a lemon

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Freshly ground black pepper to season.

Makes about half a jar, I normally make double this amount.

Keeps in the fridge for a month (the top of the pesto must be covered by oil and the jar sealed) or can be preserved in sterile jars (I leave out the Parmesan to be added before use)

• Heat a wide flat pan on the stove over a medium flame and then scatter in the pine nuts to toast. Give them a jiggle every now and then to turn them about. After a few minutes all sides should be a toasty brown. Turn out into a pestle and mortar, allow to cool a little then grind to a coarse consistency.
• While this is going on: pick your basil leaves, grate your Parmesan, crush the garlic, squeeze the lemon and pop them all in the processor.
• Add in the pine nuts and olive oil then blend until the pesto is how you’d like it (I like quite a fine cut on the herbs, others prefer it more rustic).
• Taste the sauce, season with a little pepper and then either store as above or use right away – the choice is yours!

©2012 Housewife Confidential. All Rights Reserved.

Isn’t the Spring weather lovely? It seems to have arrived in a hurry, one week we were experiencing the normal mix of rain/sun/snow that comes with March and the next the temperatures had soared to Summer levels. More than once I have lost track of time and found myself beyond supper time with no meal started.

I have found some time in the quiet early afternoons for some seasonal baking. Without a doubt this is the time of year for sweet, spiced, fruity teacakes. Crisply toasted and buttered they are hard to beat. Even if it is ice cream weather!

For years I have tried recipes for teacakes (and hot cross buns) which came out solid and unyielding. Last year I decided I would find a way to make soft and light buns or give up all together. I read a lot of recipes and tried a few different techniques and finally I think I have figured out a method which works for me. The basic recipe is pretty common – a rich sweet bread dough with butter, egg and milk as well as spice and fruit although quantities vary.

The first main difference is that I started to rub in the butter. If you’ve never done this before, here’s the trick: you drop cold cubes of butter into your sieved dry ingredients. You then pick up the butter and flour between your thumb and forefinger and rub them together (the same kind of rub as when you make a sign for money) letting the mix fall back into the bowl from a height. After a couple of minutes repeating this you should have a sandy looking mix with no visible butter remaining. This method incorporates air into the mixture and it’s what I use to get light scones as well. If you don’t want to rub in then melting your butter and adding it when it has cooled a bit with the wet ingredients is the alternative.

The second change I made was to add the fruit after the first prove. This makes a huge difference as the fruit will take moisture out of your dough while it proves and it is this which has given me such solid teacakes in the past. Instead you add the fruit before the second prove along with the sugar and gently press it into the dough being careful not to break the skin of the dough. I still have some practice to do on this and as you can see in the picture below my fruit broke free, ripping through the skin and plopping out on the counter. If you go gently you will be able to make neat buns without any rips or ruptures which will spread during cooking.

Teacake Recipe

450g Plain Flour

2 tsp ground mixed spice

45g unsalted butter, cold and cubed

7g dried fast action

260 ml tepid milk (if you’re going to heat it: I heat just half then mix with remaining cold as always gets too hot otherwise)

5g golden syrup

1 egg, lightly beaten

45g sugar

90g dried fruit (sultanas and currants or even mixed fruit if you like some peel)

For the glaze:

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 tsp sugar

Preheat oven to 180°C

Makes a baker’s dozen

• Add the yeast to the tepid milk and stir to mix it in. Set to one side while it gets busy.
• Sieve the flour and spice into a large mixing bowl.
• Add the butter and rub into the flour lifting up your hands so lots of air is incorporated.
• Make a well in the centre of the flour and add the milk, golden syrup and egg. Use a knife to bring the dough together and then knead for 5 – 10 minutes until you have a silky and elastic dough. If it is a little wet, add scant sprinklings of flour until it feels right. If it is a little dry, wet your hands to knead until it feels right. (If using a KitchenAid or similar knead with the dough hook for 10 minutes).
• Oil a mixing bowl, add the dough and cover with a damp tea towel (I prefer not to use clingfilm due to the PVC). Set your dough in a warm (not hot) spot to rise until it has doubled in size (about an hour).
• Once doubled in size very gently knock back and press the sugar and fruit into the dough being careful not to push it all the way through.
• Roll into one big ball and divide into rolls. You want them to be about palm sized and slightly flattened. There should be enough for 13 teacakes if not a couple more.
• Set the teacakes on the baking tray and cover with a dry tea towel to rise a second time by 1 and 1/2 times (about 10 – 20 minutes).
• Beat the sugar into the egg and brush over each teacake.
• Bake for 20 minutes (turning the tray after 15 if your oven cooks unevenly) test them by tapping the base which should sound hollow.
• Cool on a rack (or slather with butter and eat straight away!)

©2012 Housewife Confidential. All Rights Reserved.

We may be a family of atheists but we love a pancake. So much so that we don’t just reserve them for Shrove Tuesday but enjoy them regularly either as sweet or savoury suppers (you can see us cooking Savoury Brittany Pancakes in this video).

There are many ways to make pancakes more exciting. Rigging up a camera and timer to catch an average looking flip picture is just one of them. Something the children like is when I put all the fillings out in bowls or muffin pans so they can concoct their own combinations. For me there is nothing more sublime than simple lemon and sugar.

I use a classic recipe and most often make a double batch. Recently I acquired a pancake pan about 8.5 inches in diameter which is actually well worth having. The shallow sides make flipping very easy.

Pancake Recipe

250ml (half a pint) milk

1 egg

100g (4oz) plain flour

Makes around 6 – 8 depending on pan size, thickness of pancakes etc

• Whisk the eggs into the milk making sure to incorporate lots of air.
• Sieve the flour into the batter and whisk together.
• Leave the mixture to stand for around half an hour or more.
• Heat the pan over a medium heat, when it is hot brush with oil to grease the surface.
• Ladle in enough batter to thinly cover the bottom of the pan and swirl to spread it out.
• Shake the pan back and forth to loosen the pancake from the bottom or you can run a flexible spatula around the edges.
• It should only take a minute or two for the bottom to cook, have a peek and when it is ready give it a shake and then flip that baby!
• The second side should take little more than a minute then it will be ready to slide onto a plate, cover with sugar and lemon and roll up.

©2012 Housewife Confidential. All Rights Reserved.

Sunday eating is all about slow and cosy food in our house. Pottering around ovens fired up, slowly enjoying the time together. The last hing on our half term list was to bake and a new recipe to try hit the spot with my sweet toothed children.

This recipe is an easy one to attempt with children as it doesn’t require much weighing but rather cup and spoon measures. The flavour is sweet and delicately fragrant while the crumble crisp without a hint of clagginess. This definitely crosses the seasons with the lightness of Spring and the comfort of Winter.

Strawberry and Rhubarb Crumble Recipe

Fruit Filling:

1 punnet of British strawberries, slightly overripe if possible

1/2 of a large stalk of rhubarb, cut into 1/4 inch pieces

1 ripe plum

2 teaspoons of sugar (slightly more if berries are not ripe)

15 g of butter, diced

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 tablespoon of port or Marsala wine

Crumble Topping:

50 grams butter (adjust as needed)

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon white or Demerara sugar

1/2 cup fine ground polenta or corn meal

1/2 cup oats

2 tablespoons flour

1/2 tsp cardamom

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ginger

Preheat oven to 200°C – serves for 4 – 6.

• Slice the fruit roughly 1/4 inch thick and add to oval baking dish.
• Sprinkle sugar, vanilla and port over the fruit, and evenly distribute the small pieces of butter on the top.
• Add all ingredients to food processor or blender and mix until cohesive and the butter is fully integrated. If too moist (like a dough), add more oats and flour until it becomes slightly crumbly.
• Evenly distribute crumble topping over the fruit, making sure it’s mostly covered, and sprinkle a teaspoon of sugar over the top.
• Put in the oven and turn temperature down to 175°C. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden and bubbly.
• Serve warm with custard or vanilla ice cream, a bit of extra sugar if needed, and a cup of tea!

Recipe copyright Kathryn Wallace.

©2012 Housewife Confidential. All Rights Reserved.

When we had our Midwinter feast the aim was to have a long lazy day of cooking. Knowing we wouldn’t have the feast on the table until mid-afternoon we planned a brunch to keep everyone going. My goodness were they excited about brunch – the biggest treat of all. We planned to make English muffins but left it a bit late and so ended up having sourdough for brunch which left English muffins for Mama’s breakfast the next morning.

Back in the day I used to make these for lavish breakfasts we’d linger over with weekend guests but in all honesty I think this was one of the first times I’ve managed it since we had children. They are satisfyingly easy to make and involve only a little effort and patience. And naturally like everything you make yourself they taste so much better than the ready-made offerings.

English Muffins are made from a basic milk dough. I have seen lots of recipes using shortening but I’ve never tried that method. The trick is never to rush any step and they should turn out perfectly time and again.

English Muffin Recipe.

450g plain white flour

300ml lukewarm milk

1tsp salt

1tsp sugar

7g (1 sachet) of dried yeast

Semolina flour for dusting

• Warm the milk until it is blood temperature (you dip your finger and it feels neither warm or cold). Transfer to a jug, whisk in the sugar and yeast then set aside to get active. You should see little bubbles as the yeast gets going after about 10 – 15 minutes.
• Sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl.
• Pour the milk/sugar/yeast mixture into the flour and mix until the dough comes together and stops being sticky.
• Oil your surface and then turn out the dough and knead for about 10 minutes until it is silky and elastic.
• Oil the bowl and top of dough, return the dough to the bowl and cover with a damp tea towel or non-PVC food wrap. Leave in a warm but not hot location to double in size. Around an hour depending on how warm the room is (can take two in our cold house in Winter!)
• To shape the muffins you can either divide your dough into 10-12 pieces, roll into balls and flatten with your hand or you can roll the whole dough out to about 2cm thick and then use a ring to cut them out.
• Cover your baking sheet with a sprinkling of semolina, place the muffins onto it and then dust with semolina again.
• Cover with a dry tea towel and leave to rise in a warm spot for about 30 minutes.
• Once they have risen heat a heavy bottomed frying pan on the stove. Some recipes have you grease the pan with a little lard – I don’t do this.
• Cook the muffins over a medium heat for about 10 minutes each side until they have the tell tale golden surface. To check they are cooked inside give the side a little press – it should spring back. This part is important as you don’t want to break into them and find a doughy centre when you open them up!

Best served lightly toasted with lashings of cream cheese, a sliver of smoked trout, a twist of black pepper and a squeeze of lemon

©2012 Housewife Confidential. All Rights Reserved.

A classic fish cake is a winner for weekday suppers in our house. Served with a big dollop of Greek yoghurt and either salad or veggies – my children can’t get enough of them.

I think if I were making them from scratch every time we’d have them far less often but I make a huge batch every few weeks and freeze the majority so they can be whipped out and reheated. When we have salad growing in the garden Milla and Monty will pick and wash the leaves ready for supper while I set the table – exactly the kind of relaxing scene I wish played out every evening.

I’ll often cook the fish and potatoes ahead of time and let them sit in the fridge overnight. Getting all of the elements lined up in advance is essential as once you start dipping there is no way to keep yourself clean!

I use a mix of fish and try to choose sustainable fish (find a list of fish to avoid here) and for this particular batch I used a mix of pollock and trout. There are so many lovely fish available it is well worth stepping away from the comfort zone and choosing something different.

Fish Cakes Recipe

600g of fish

1.2kg of potatoes, boiled (can use a mix of white and sweet potatoes if liked)

1 big bunch of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

For the coating: three bowls filled with plain flour, beaten eggs (about 2) and breadcrumbs respectively.

Oil and a small knob of butter for frying.

• Cook the fish (wrapped in foil for about 15 minutes in an 180°C oven) then flake it using your fingers so you’ll find any bones.
• Mash the potatoes, if you have one a ricer will make swift and fine mash.
• Combine the fish, potatoes and parsley and mix well to combine.
• Shape into patties, nice and fat about the size of a child’s hand (as modelled by Monty in the picture above).
• With each fish cake you are going to coat it first in flour, then in egg and finally in breadcrumbs – I normally do this by rolling them around in the bowls.
• Heat the oil in the pan – it needs to be sizzling hot before you get cooking or the breadcrumbs will just soak it all up. If you’re using it add your knob of butter when the oil is hot.
• Fry the fish cakes on each side until golden.

Makes approx 20 – 24 fat child-sized fish cakes

To re-heat from frozen: pre-heat oven to 180°C. Place frozen fish cakes on a baking tray and cook in the oven for 20 minutes.

With thanks to Mr Kat for the pictures.

©2012 Housewife Confidential. All Rights Reserved.

Eating Watercress Soup.

©2012 Housewife Confidential. All Rights Reserved.

About half way through cooking our goose I decided I was going to create something other than the plain cranberry sauce I had planned. Ordinarily we’re so busy so a long lazy day of cooking is the perfect time to try something different.

I took a look around for a few flavours I thought would go with the meat and season and come up with a fruity combination of rhubarb, cranberry and satsuma. Luckily for me this is a marvellous combination which produces a sharp, sweet and delicious sauce.

Cranberry and Rhubarb Sauce

400g (a punnet) of cranberries

454g rhubarb, chopped

200g caster sugar

1 small satsuma, squeezed

120ml water

• Put all of the ingredients together in a pan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved.
• Once the sugar has dissolved, bring the mixture to a simmer.
• Simmer gently for an hour stirring from time to time.
• The rhubarb should break up and the cranberries should pop.

Can be served warm or cold.

Makes enough for a feast and lots to go with leftovers.

To save either store in the fridge in an airtight container for a couple of weeks or pour into sterilised jars when hot and seal to keep for longer.

©2012 Housewife Confidential. All Rights Reserved.

A happy coincidence that cooking and writing about this recipe coincided with having six children in the house for the afternoon. With high spirits and limited space I’m glad all of my prep was done long in advance.

It took ten minutes at most to get underway and then all I had to do was fix some couscous to serve. Really simple and eminently tasty although I’d probably add a green salad in the future. I couldn’t get hold of a tagine to cook it in so I used a cast iron pan with a tightly fitting lid.

As you can see the chicken was tender and falling apart. The sauce was intense yet subtly flavoured. It’s definitely been given the seal of approval by the children although couscous received mixed reactions.

Lemon Chicken Tagine Recipe

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 chicken quarters (or breasts diced)
1 level teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ginger
1 tablespoon chopped fresh coriander
375ml chicken stock or water
4 quarters of preserved lemons
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Fresh coriander to garnish

• Heat the oil in the Tagine Pot, and fry the onion and garlic gently for 3 – 4 minutes without colouring.
• Cut the chicken quarters into two pieces, or dice the chicken breasts, and add these to the Tagine. Raise the heat slightly and brown evenly, turning the pieces frequently.
• Add the turmeric, ginger, coriander and stock with some seasoning. Bring to a simmer.
• Rinse the pieces of lemon thoroughly in cold running water. Then cut away and discard the fruit flesh. Cut the softened peel into thin strips, and stir these into the chicken.
• Cover and cook very slowly for 2 – 21/2 hours. Remove the lid and boil the liquid rapidly for a few minutes to thicken the consistency, if necessary.
• Garnish generously with the chopped coriander before serving.

©2012 Housewife Confidential. All Rights Reserved.

I’ve been preoccupied by spicy pork since I had a delicious taco at the Wahaca concession at the ill-fated Alex James Presents Harvest. The other day I spotted a heavily discounted pork belly and figured it would be the perfect time to try out some ideas.

I had intended to use some chipotles in adobo after reading this post but when I opened the tin I found it was chipotles and tomatoes in adobo. Not ideal as we’re allergic to tomatoes so they went in the bin and I improvised from the store cupboard.

Having never cooked pork belly before I had a look at a few recipes which all suggested that a half hour at high heat either at the start or end of cooking was in order for crunchy crackling. I opted to do mine at the end but when I cam to check the meat the skin was crisp and glistening so I dodged that bit all together.

We were having a little celebration meal as Monty started pre-school last week. Candles and constructing your own meal are two of Monty’s absolute favourites so we turned our pork belly into wraps with guacamole and sour cream.

Slow Cooked Sticky Chipotle Pork Belly

Pork belly (around 1 – 1.5kg should easily serve 4-6)

2 tsp dried chipotle chillis – soaked and soaking liquor reserved

1 tbsp molasses cane sugar

1 tsp red wine vinegar

Rock salt

Oven preheated to 160°C. Roasting tin lined with tin foil (see my cheat’s way to rescue a burnt pan if you forget this!) should be just a smidge bigger then your meat.

• Soak the chipotles for 15 minutes in hot water. Drain but reserve the cooking liquid.
• Score the skin of your pork belly (being careful not to go as far as the flesh) so it has half inch wide stripes all over.
• Rub salt all over the skin and into the cuts you’ve made. Set aside for a moment.
• In a bowl or cup mix the chipotles, sugar, vinegar and enough of the soaking liquid to create a nice loose marinade.
• Pour your marinade into your tin roil-lined tray spreading it out over the bottom.
• Pat dry any water which has come out on the skin of the pork belly and put it into the tray. Wriggle it around so it gets nicely coated in the marinade. You don’t want it on the skin but it isn’t a major problem if you get a bit on, just wipe it off.
• You can leave your pork belly to marinade for a couple of hours or pop it straight in the oven. The longer it has marinading the deeper the flavour can penetrate.
• Put it in the oven and cook for 3.5 – 4 hours. Check it at around 3.5 hours and if the crackling needs a bit of help turn the oven up to 220°C for the last half hour.
• Rest for 20 minutes then use two forks to pull apart the meat and place in a serving dish.
• Enjoy this sweet sticky spiced meat in wraps, soft tacos, with noodles or however you like but most definitely with friends!

©2012 Housewife Confidential. All Rights Reserved.