With all the great produce available this month, you’d be a fool not to get stuck into some of it this weekend. The game season is in full swing and offers such a wide range of rich, flavoursome birds that make a great choice for family suppers or more formal dinners. Here, I have paired pheasant with some subtly spiced braised cabbage and apple, but you could also cook partridge or pigeon in a similar fashion.

Personally, I can never get enough of wild mushrooms. The season got off to a great start last month, but there is plenty more still to come throughout November, giving you loads of time to enjoy their rich, woody flavours. Every chef’s favourite is the hearty, highly sought-after cep, but don’t overlook the ugly, dark and sinister trompette de la mort (or black chanterelle, as it is also known); the slightly bitter blewit and the golden and delicate girolle, to name but a few. Enjoy a medley of this autumnal luxury in the wild mushroom and goat’s cheese lasagna.

Perhaps the food we associate most with autumn is apples, and who could possibly resist a traditional baked apple at the end of a meal, especially when accompanied by a dollop of clotted cream? British apples have had quite a bashing over the years, with hardly any of the varieties we can grow here being sold in our shops. This is changing gradually, but we must continue to demand native fruit from our supermarkets. The Cox is one of the finest dessert apples our orchards have to offer and with its aromatic flavour and low water content, it is ideal for baking whole.

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