Autumn Months Seasonality
 

Autumn is a great time for fruit, and vegetables too. Lots of delicious British-grown varieties are in season, such as blackberries, plums, apples, pears, pumpkins, leeks, courgettes and parsnips, to name but a few.

July

Is a great time for spinach and tomatoes, oh gorgeous and sweet fresh lovely tomatoes.  We have the much maligned cauliflower – which is equally good baked whole in the oven till the top is brown and crispy!!  Do you like fennel?  Well you can shred it finely and add to the lovely summer salads.   New potatoes are still around and are gorgeous drizzled with rapeseed oil and seasoned and flung into a bowl to serve with your BBQ food.  Northumberland has the best oyster mushrooms around grown at Tritlington, and the super peas in pods make an entrance – who actually pods them and cooks them?  I don’t think they have ever made it to the pan – I once had a bet with myself and put 97 peas into my mouth at one time [not recommended!!].  Pigeon is generally available all year round – but they are particularly fat and lovely this time of year, well seasoned breasts, flash fried and then sliced into a pitta bread with a handful of rocket makes an excellent lunchtime snack, and oh so impressive!  Trout remains a great seasonal fish, and they are perfect for the BBQ.
 

August

Summer leaves are abundant and are growing like wildfire, especially rocket – wow a few seeds flung into some soil throw up vast amounts of fresh leaves that can be picked to eat.  Summer fruits are still in abundance i.e. raspberries, strawberries.   Courgettes and sweetcorn make an appearance as well as first season apples and greengages, lovely sweet peas are still around and beans of many varieties come to the fore.  Pears are beginning and it is the perfect time to poach them, and serve with a summer fruit coulis.

September 

There are lots of tasty varieties of apples around at this time of year. They are great to eat raw, baked with sultanas, or in warming puddings such as crumbles, tarts and strudels. And made into sauce or chutney, apple is a perfect partner for grilled meats, especially pork. Pears are another delicious autumn fruit.They make a great snack on their own, or with some cheese. The Italians like to eat pears with pecorino, and in the UK they are traditionally teamed with Stilton. When cooking pears, try adding some almonds or vanilla to enhance their flavour. Or try mixing pureed apple or pear into mashed vegetables such as carrot or butternut squash, to accompany a meal. Leeks are a very popular British-grown vegetable, in season from September to April. They are delicious steamed or boiled and served hot as a side dish, or cold in a salad. They go well with chicken, in quiches and in stir-fries, and they also make a wonderful base for soups and stews. Pumpkins are another traditional feature of autumn, but there's much more to them than Halloween lanterns! They are extremely versatile and can be added to soups, curries, stews, bread, muffins and sweet or savoury tarts. Pumpkin seeds can be used to add crunch to salads or muesli, or eaten roasted as a snack.