November is a month for getting ahead, and whether you’re baking a festive pudding or making a start on those edible gifts, a day or two in the kitchen now will save you a load of time (and stress!) come December.
Autumn
When I first started working with my good friend and mentor Gennaro Contaldo, many years ago at the Neal Street Restaurant, I used to see him coming into the kitchen carrying huge baskets of weird and wonderful mushrooms.
Smoky flavours, crackling textures and great warming bowls of steaming goodness – Bonfire Night is a feast of autumnal flavours and colours. So crack out the sparklers, wrap up warm, and tuck into our tasty ideas for a bonfire party – big or small.
The golden month of harvest festivals and Halloween, October is all about crunchy apples, juicy pears, plump game birds, British nuts, wild mushrooms and – of course – pumpkins!
Nothing beats a warm fruit crumble, especially as the weather gets chillier and the evenings draw in. Here are our favourite recipes with a classic crumble topping
Slow cooking is the perfect way to cut prepping time and make simple ingredients really sing. From overnight porridge to stews you can come home to, with a bit of organisation slow-cooker dishes can become an easy part of any midweek menu.
Every month has much to recommend it, even November, although I can’t imagine many people would declare it their favourite.
October is a month of unstoppable transition. There’ll even be a few summer crops still doggedly carrying on but ripening ever more slowly.
In September, the trees and hedgerows are bursting with seasonal sweet and savoury treasures, from native fruits to big, beautiful autumnal squash.
Salads are great for filling up, but now that it’s getting colder, summer’s lovely leaves have given way to hearty grains like in this tomato farro salad.
