Ooohhh did you hear the wind last night? It's definitely turned autumnal around here- the leaves are changing to burnt orange and russet and there's a smoky smell to the air outside as the first fires are lit. In the garden this morning I noticed that our fig tree had two fruits hanging precariously. Yay for the fig tree I say! Imagine producing anything after the summer we've had...

This kind of weather calls for slightly spicy food. Today we had devilled mushrooms for lunch. This is a Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recipe from The River Cottage Meat Book and is for devilled kidneys originally. It's a fantastic kidney recipe but also works well with big juicy mushrooms. We also finished off the spicy chickpea soup I made the day before which warmed us from nose to toes.

Devilled Mushrooms
4 large field mushrooms, washed and sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
small glass of sherry
1 tablespoon cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon redcurrant jelly
few shakes Worcestershire sauce
pinch cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon mustard
1 tablespoon cream
salt and pepper

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and add the mushrooms. Fry for a couple of minutes until the mushrooms have released some juices and then add the sherry. Let this bubble for a minute or two and then add the cider vinegar, the redcurrant jelly, the Worcestershire sauce, cayenne pepper and mustard. Stir to dissolve the redcurrant jelly and season with salt and pepper. Then add the cream and bubble the sauce for another minute or so-it should be reduced and glossy. Serve with  buttered toast. Serves two.

Some lovely autumn colours in the veg basket too. This morning the supermarket had an unusual knobbly flame coloured squash and some Irish grown blue skinned potatoes - Blue Danube- I can't wait to try them and also lovely cooking apples. I made Swedish Apple Cake with them using Rachel Allen's Cake book   (borrowed from the library). The kitchen was full of apple-y, cinnamon-y smells as the cake baked- it'll be delicious for pudding tonight!