autumn recipes

Tagliatelle with Wild and Tame Mushrooms

300 g / 12 oz egg tagliatelle

15 g / 0.75 oz dried wild mushrooms (perhaps Saffron Milk Caps)

75 g / 3 oz fresh button mushrooms 2 rashers bacon

75 g / 3 oz crème fraiche

Reconstitute the dried mushrooms in boiling water. Drain and reserve the resulting stock, carefully decanting to remove any grit. Over a fairly high heat, fry the bacon and all the mushrooms. Meanwhile, bring a pan of salted water and the mushroom stock to a vigorous boil and cook the pasta for just a few minutes. Drain the pasta; return to the pan and stir in the bacon, mushrooms and crème fraiche. Serve immediately.

Girolles with Shallots

150 g / 6 oz fresh girolles

100 g / 4 oz shallots

1 small handful fresh parsley

Olive oil

Pinch brown sugar

Chop the shallots finely and fry over a low heat with a pinch of sugar. Slice the girolles and fry briskly over a high heat. Combine the shallots and girolles and cook for a further 2 minutes, adding the finely chopped parsley for the final half minute. Make a wonderful accompaniment to kidneys.

Plums in Port 8 ripe plums

15 g / 0.75 oz butter

2 tbsp port

1 tbsp brown sugar

Halve the plums and remove the stones. Sauté over a moderate flame in butter for a few minutes. Add the port and simmer for a minute. Serve with a sprinkling of brown sugar.

Leek, Potato and Stilton Soup

4 good-sized leeks

2 medium potatoes

8 oz / 225 g mature Stilton

1.5 pints / 850 cl stock

1 knob butter

salt, pepper,

fresh chervil/parsley

Slice and wash the leeks, season well and sweat with the butter in a large saucepan for 5 minutes over a moderate heat. Peel and chop the potatoes, add to the leek and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add the stock and simmer for 30 minutes until the potatoes are soft. Liquidize, return to the heat and stir in the crumbled Stilton. Serve with a sprinkling of chopped chervil or parsley.

Sausages with Onion and Apple

6 sausages

1 large onion

2 small firm apples

olive oil

Plunge the sausages into a pan of boiling water for 3 minutes. Drain and place on top of the sliced onion and apples in a heavy dish. Drizzle over some oil and cook at 180 ºF / 350 ºC / gas mk 4 for 40 minutes. Finish under a hot grill for a few minutes until brown.

Spicy, Nutty Sprouts

0.5 lb / 225 g sprouts, quartered

2 rashers bacon, chopped

6 walnuts, crumbled into small pieces.

olive oil

dash Tabasco sauce (optional)

Fry the bacon in a little oil until crispy, adding the walnuts for the last few minutes. Meanwhile cook the sprouts for just a couple of minutes in boiling water. Drain, add to the bacon and nuts, fry for a further 5 minutes and serve immediately. Add the Tabasco sauce toward the end of cooking.

Apple Cake

8 oz / 225 g self-raising flour (or plain flour with 2 tsp. baking powder)

0.25 tsp / 1.25 ml bicarbonate of soda pinch salt

3 oz / 75 g butter

7 oz / 175 g sugar 2 eggs, beaten

1.25 lb / 550 g apples, peeled, cored, chopped, stewed

Grease a 6" / 15 cm round tin.

Cream the butter and 6 oz / 150 g of the sugar until smooth, then add the eggs, a little at a time. Stir in most of the stewed apple but retain a little for the filling. Beat in the flour until the mixture is smooth. Pour into the greased tin and bake for 1 hour at 180 ºF / 350 ºC / gas mk 4. Turn out to cool. Dissolve the remaining sugar in the put aside apple. Cut the cake in half and spread the apple mixture as a filling.