Celebrate Autumn with our top pick Recipes!

The weather is turning, the leaves are browning and there is a crispness to the mornings. It’s days like these when there is a chill in the air and you can enjoy a splendid sunset.

There’s nothing quite like a good dinner and a hot pudding, so we have researched some of the best autumn recipes that will compliment this time of year.

We’ve picked each meal of the day – from breakfast right through to dinner. We would love to know what your favourite recipe is out of our selection so comment on our Facebook page or contact us on 01202 088051.

Four-Grain Porridge with Black Forest Compote 

It’s best to start the day with a good breakfast. Eat breakfast like a king as the saying goes and in autumn it’s even more important. When we’re spending more time indoors sometimes our appetite might diminish but it’s still important to eat lots of healthy food and having a good breakfast will set you up for the day and get your metabolism going so you feel hungry at mealtimes. For a warm and filling autumn breakfast we’ve chosen a upsized porridge to treat your taste buds and hit the healthy spot, originally taken from Country Living’s website.

Ingredients

60g of barley flakes

60g of oat flakes

60g of spelt flakes

60g of rye flakes

1.2 litres of whole milk (or skimmed if you prefer)

Maple syrup or dark brown sugar and toasted mixed seeds to serve

500g black forest frozen fruit mix (defrosted)

2 tbsp light brown soft sugar

1 tsp of vanilla extract

Method

Put a large frying pan over a medium heat. Dry toast the barley flakes for a few minutes until lightly toasted. Tip those into the bowl. Continue with the remaining flakes, toasting each variety one at a time (this makes sure they’re all evenly toasted). Add them all to the bowl. Stir together and leave to cool. (You can store these in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks).

Now put the fruit, sugar and vanilla in a pan along with a splash of water and set over a low medium heat, cover and cook for 5-10 minutes until the fruit softens and releases its juice.

Put half the fruit into a food processor and blitz until fairly smooth. Return to the whole fruit and stir to combine. Cool and chill until needed. This keeps for at least a week in the fridge.

Now to make the porridge, put the flakes and milk into a large pan. Bring to the boil, then simmer very gently, stirring often, for 10-20 minutes, depending on the amount you cook. Top with a spoonful of compote and a sprinkle of seeds. For a quicker version when time is tight in the morning, soak and flakes overnight in half of the milk. When you are ready to make your porridge, add the remaining milk and cook for 5-10 minutes until creamy!

Butternut Squash Soup

A nice warm bowl of soup with freshly baked bread can make an excellent lunch or light dinner in the autumn. Butternut squash soup has become very popular in the last few years and there’s a reason why – it’s delicious! The best thing about this soup is that it’s fairly easy to make and you can spice it up by adding in extras if you fancy a twist on the original recipe. Below we’ve listed the ingredients and method, inspired by the BBC Goodfood recipe but with an extra twist of our own.

Ingredients

1 Butternut squash peeled, deseeded and diced (this can be a tough job so give yourself plenty of time)

2 tbsp of olive oil

1 tbsp of butter

2 onions (make sure to dice these in preparation)

1 clove of garlic (crushed)

850ml of vegetable stock

1 tsp of curry powder

A loaf of fresh bakery bread

Baking tray, saucepan and hand blender

Method

Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas mark 6. Place the diced squash in a large roasting tray with half the olive oil and toss. Roast for 30 mins with 1 turn half way through.

In the meantime melt the butter in a large saucepan (remember it will have all the ingredients in eventually so needs to be big enough). Added your diced onion and crushed garlic along with your curry powder. Stir on a low heat until the onion is soft.

Add your roasted squash and blend with a hand blender until the soup is smooth. Bring to simmering and then serve with thick slices of your fresh bread and butter.

Beef Casserole

Autumn wouldn’t be autumn without a heart-warming casserole or stew. Tender meat cooked over many hours in a rich sauce with seasonal vegetables really is one of the best things to eat on a dark autumn night. The preparation is well worth it and once it’s all done and the food is in the pot you can sit back with your favourite book and enjoy the beautiful aroma of your dinner cooking! This recipe is from the great website Gransnet and perfect for autumn

Ingredients

500g of lean braising steak

Large pack of fresh prepared stew veg (this makes it far easier)

1 large onion diced

170g of fresh mushrooms diced or bigger if you prefer

2 tbsp cornflour

1 pack of passata

2 cloves of fresh garlic crushed

125ml of red wine (you can get helpful small bottles from the supermarket)

2 tsp of grapeseed oil

Bouquet garni

½ litre (1 pint) of beef stock

Potato for mash and extra veg to serve

Heavy bottom saucepan and slow cooker

Season the cornflour, place in a large bowl and add the beef. Stir and coat.

Method

Heat the oil in a heavy bottom pan. Then add the crushed garlic and diced onion, cook until soft, and then add the vegetables.

Remove the vegetables (into the slow cooker) and add the beef to brown it (you may need at add more oil) and then remove from the heat and spoon the browned meat into the slow cooker and put on the lid.

Now heat the pan again and add the red wine to reduce, stirring with a wooden spoon to get all of the flavour from the bottom of the pan. Add the stock and passata with the bouquet garni and simmer for a couple of minutes until piping hot. Add to the slow cooker and replace the lid.

Now you can sit back and relax, leaving it to cook for 6-8 hours, with about 45 mins before the end of the cooking time add the mushrooms. Serve with creamy mash potatoes and vegetables of your choice (we recommend carrots, parsnips and peas).

Baked Fruit Pudding

This is a more traditional dish that many of you may remember from when you were younger. In the days before central heating and underfloor bathroom heating there was nothing better than a hot pudding before bed to keep you warm through the night! This is one of our favourites because it really is a taste of autumn with the rich fruit flavour and that dash of cinnamon. This one’s inspired by another BBC Goodfood recipe that has received a 5 star rating.

Ingredients

450g mixed autumn fruit – think plums, apples and blackberries

A handful of currants or raisins

2 tbsp of butter (with a little extra for greasing)

200g of caster sugar

1 ½ tsp cinnamon

300g self-raising flour

140g shredded suet

Zest 1 lemon

Foil, parchment, string, pudding basin, deep roasting tin

Method

Remember to start by preheating your oven to 180C/160C fan/gas mark 4. Cut 2 x 5cm-wide strips of parchment and lay them up the sites of a 1.2 litre pudding basin, making a cross on the bottom of the dish. It’s best to have some overhang so it’s easier to get your pudding out once it’s cooked. Grease again and lay a square of foil and the same size square of greased parchment on top of each other folding a pleat down the middle.

Next for the fruit – chop your chosen fruit into 1cm cubes and place in a bowl with the butter, broken up, 125g of sugar and cinnamon and stir.

Then sift the flour into a separate mixing bowl. Mix in the suet, remaining sugar and zest, and add a few drops of water, continuing to add water until you have a soft dough. Bring the dough together by hand into a smooth ball and then tip out onto a lightly floured surface. Tear the dough into ¾ and ¼ parts. Roll the larger portion into a rough circle about 20cm wide and put it in your pudding basin filling it with the fruit filling of the pudding. Then roll out the last ¼ of the dough to make a lid and push it down firmly on top, sealing the sides and folding the parchment back over the dough.

Put your foil/parchment combination on the top with the foil side up and squeeze the foil down to make a fitted lid. Tie string securely around it and then put it into a deep roasting tin. Pour boiling water 1-2cm below the foil line and cook for 2 hours topping up the water level if necessary. Unwrap and carefully pop it upside down on plate to reveal your pudding!

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