As long hot days are replaced with cooler fall nights, September also heralds the beginning of harvest season. There is so much wonderful produce to choose from and cooking seasonally means you’re buying food at its best and at its best price. It’s the time to cook with fruits like plums, apples, blackberries and pears, and enjoy early fall vegetables, such as celeriac, zucchini and sweetcorn. Plus use up the last of the summer glut for preserves, pickles and jellies. Here’s what to look out for in September and the best recipes to try.
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Fennel, leek and Parmesan bake
Fennel, with its aniseed flavor, is wonderful when finely sliced for a crunchy salad. But it also works perfectly when cooked, in this case in a baked gratin. Combined with lightly-stewed leeks, it makes a hearty dish with cream, white wine and plenty of grated Parmesan which adds umami, the savory taste, to balance the sweetness of the leeks. With very little preparation, it’s on the table in 50 minutes.
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Tarte Tatin
This upside-down tart with caramelized, buttery apples is a winner every time. You do need to choose an eating apple which holds its shape well, such as a Granny Smith or Golden Delicious. Once you’ve made the caramel and added the apples, it can happily sit for a few hours in the refrigerator until you’re ready to bake. The apples are covered in store-bought puff pastry, so there’s little effort involved. It’s a sweet dessert, best served with crème fraîche.
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Clam chowder
Clams are fat and juicy by September, so what better time to cook this classic New England dish. To shuck the clams, put them into a large saucepan with a little white wine or water, bring to the boil, cover and turn off the heat. Once the shells have opened, it’s easy to take out the clams. Strain the cooking liquor through a fine sieve in case of grit, then add it to the chowder. Serve with traditional crackers or some bread.
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Gooseberry fool
Gooseberries have a short season, so make the most of them in this classic British dessert, where cooked gooseberries are combined with whipped cream and thick yogurt, and topped with crunchy, caramelized oats. Make extra gooseberry compote to freeze, or for crumbles and pies at any time of year, open-freeze the berries, uncovered, on trays before bagging up. This ensures they won’t stick together in one clump when in the freezer.
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Baked figs with halloumi and prosciutto
When fresh figs are at their ripest in September, they can be incredibly sweet. In this recipe, the sweetness is balanced out with salty halloumi and delicately sweet and salty ham. Halved, cheese-stuffed figs are wrapped with prosciutto and fresh basil, and baked until the cheese has melted. They’re best eaten straight from the oven.
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Mexican-style barbecued corn
It’s the last month to enjoy fresh corn still in its husk, which is perfect for the grill. Once you’ve removed the silky threads, twist the husk so you have an easy way to turn the corn. This recipe is inspired by elote – Mexican street corn traditionally served with Cotija cheese. Here, garlic and soft herb cheese is added instead, which melts over the corn with a cilantro, lime, paprika and chili butter.
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Peach cobbler
Once you’ve had your fill of juicy, ripe peaches from the fruit bowl, try this recipe, where the stone fruit is baked with cinnamon and topped with a sweet cobbler crust. There’s no need to take the skin off the peaches either: life really is too short to skin a peach and it melts upon cooking in any case. As the peaches bake with lemon and cornflour, they give off a thick, aromatic sauce, perfect to serve with vanilla ice cream.
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Butternut squash, sage and Comté risotto
Butternut squash is at its best right now. Here it’s combined with creamy, salty cheese and sage in a simple risotto. The trick is to roast the squash first, to bring out its natural sweetness. And for a creamy risotto, use the best Italian rice you can find and add the hot stock slowly to the rice, stirring constantly. You could use Gruyère instead of Comté, if you like.
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Chili jam
Late summer brings big crops of chilies. Even if you don’t grow your own, you’ll find a huge choice at farmers’ markets. Mix and match a few varieties to make your own chili jam, which will keep in a dark cupboard for three months. Combined with fresh tomatoes, sugar and vinegar, it’s a wonderful accompaniment to cheese, cured meats and fish cakes, and is surprisingly easy to make.
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Pomegranate passion cake
Pomegranates, with their ruby jewel-like seeds, will begin to appear this month. Seeds from a fresh pomegranate contain much more juice than the pre-packed ready-to-use seeds. Just halve the fruit, then squeeze out the seeds over a bowl. Use them to make this easy almond cake, which is sticky, dense and moist, with a pomegranate syrup drizzled over once baked, and topped with mascarpone frosting and pomegranate seeds. You’ll need a jar of pomegranate molasses too.
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Zucchini and halloumi skewers
Make the most of the barbecue, while the weather still allows, by whipping up these tasty skewers served with a chili and mint dressing. Halloumi is perfect for the grill – it softens and caramelizes, but doesn’t melt. Zucchini also tastes even better grilled, as their edges become lightly charred and crisp. The simple dressing of oil, vinegar, chili and fresh mint also needs dried mint, for a more intense flavor.
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Plum and blackberry friand bake
A friand is usually a light, small, moist almond cake, often flavored with fruit. Here’s a big version to serve six. You can make the easy cake batter well in advance as it’ll keep in the refrigerator for a day. However, don’t be tempted to prep the fruit ahead too. The plums and blackberries, which are mixed with sugar, cinnamon and bay leaves for a herbal, woody note, should only sit for half an hour, otherwise they’ll become too juicy.
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Celeriac and bacon soup
Celeriac won’t win any prizes for looks with its knobbly, unusual shape. But it’s a hero of the vegetable world, with subtle hints of celery and nutty flavors. It’s delicious eaten raw in salads and slaws but when cooked, it becomes sweeter. Try it in a creamy soup topped with crispy, salty bacon bits.
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Blueberry and honey cornbread
This comforting cake is flourless, made with polenta, butter, ground almonds, honey and eggs. It’s really moist, with the juices of the blueberries soaking in as they cook. Once baked, pierce the surface of the cake with a skewer and slowly pour over a honey and butter glaze, allowing it to soak in. The hardest part is having the patience to leave the cake to cool in its tin before serving.
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Roast leg of lamb with pecorino and garlic
Lambs are so full of flavor by September, having had the whole summer to graze on rich pastures. This recipe showcases the meat at its best, with an unusual yet fantastic stuffing of pecorino, garlic, basil and oil. It’s roasted on a bed of fresh tomatoes, new potatoes and red onions, with a splash of white wine to enhance the gravy.
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Raspberry, lemon and yogurt tea loaf
Sure to become a go-to recipe, this cake is moist and not overly sweet. The addition of yogurt makes it so light – the acidity helps activate the baking powder, keeps the cake soft and adds a pleasant tanginess. It’s easy to prepare and the clever trick is adding the raspberries in different layers, so they don’t all sink to the bottom. You can also try making it with blackberries or blueberries.
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Oysters Kilpatrick
Zinc-laden oysters are back on the menu in September, after their summer spawning season. If you don’t like them raw, lightly grill with bacon until crisp – they take on a whole new texture. Add a splash of Worcestershire sauce for a blast of savory and salty tastes. They make a lovely snack with drinks or light starter.
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Roast stone fruit with almond crumb
A perfect dessert to make stone fruits shine. You could try a mixture of plums, peaches and nectarines – it’s especially good if you have a few which are under-ripe to use up. The topping has balls of marzipan in it, to add an intense almond flavor as it gently melts into the juicy fruit, and goes all crunchy and caramelized when baked. Any leftovers make a fab breakfast with yogurt.
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Roasted beetroot with grilled halloumi
Roasting fresh beetroot in foil brings out their sweetness, though we recommend rubber gloves when you peel them to avoid staining your hands! In this simple salad, the earthy beets are joined by salty grilled halloumi and a tasty, punchy dressing of chopped, toasted walnuts, parsley, lemon zest, garlic and olive oil. Serve as a light main course with toasted pitta or flat breads.
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Apple, plum and cinnamon skillet pie
While plums are still in season, they are unbeatable when combined with apples in a crumble or here, in a skillet pie topped with store-bought shortcrust pastry. The fruit is cooked with honey, cinnamon and vanilla until the apples are fluffy and the plums are wonderfully sticky. The lattice top makes it look so impressive, but if you find it a little challenging, just cut the pastry into eight thick strips and arrange over the fruit.
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Sausage and wild mushroom traybake
With venison, squash and wild mushrooms all in season this month, this is a perfect traybake to make. If you can’t find wild mushrooms, the recipe uses dried porcini too, so you’ll still get that earthy flavor. The sausages and vegetables are coated in a sweet, sticky glaze of red wine and redcurrant jelly. It’s then topped with kale and baked until crisp. Buttery, herby horseradish mash is the ideal accompaniment and you could use pork sausages if you can’t get venison.
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Mussels rassa
Mussels are nutritious, quick to cook and great value. Here, they’re simmered in a spiced, creamy coconut broth. Discard any broken mussels or open ones which don’t shut when you tap them on the counter. The recipe itself is pretty low effort: sauté garlic, ginger and chili, then add curry leaves, spices like turmeric and fish stock, before stirring in the mussels and coconut cream. Serve with rice.
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Normandy pear tart
A French classic, this tart consists of a rich, sweet pastry filled with frangipane – ground almonds mixed with sugar, eggs and butter – and covered with wedges of pear. Allow the pastry time to chill or it will be tricky to roll out. You could use store-bought if you prefer. One essential, though, is ripe pears to bring out their best flavor. Once the pie is baked, brush over an apricot glaze, then serve with crème fraîche.
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Socca with artichokes
Socca is a crisp pancake from Provence made with chickpea flour. It’s often bought from street stalls and is a favorite to serve with drinks on a summer’s evening. Here the batter is topped with baby artichokes which have a short season but are well worth searching out. The smaller the artichoke, the more tender and less preparation. When they are out of season, use jarred artichokes in oil, but dry them well before making this lovely snack.
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Apple and pear salad
Crisp, juicy apples and pears work perfectly in a simple salad. Once they are cut into wedges, you need to toss them in lemon juice to prevent discoloring. This recipe combines them with leaves, toasted walnuts, beetroot and crumbled feta, although you could use soft blue cheese or goats’ cheese instead. It’s a winning combination of sweet, crunchy, sharp and nutty.
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Barbecued mackerel
Mackerel are big and plump right now, and perfect for the grill, if only to keep the fishy smell out of your kitchen! The barbecue makes the skin crisp quickly, without overcooking the flesh. They need to be spankingly fresh, as their high oil content means they deteriorate quickly. But they are easy to prepare – our recipe takes you through step by step. Serve with a crisp salad and wedges of lemon.
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Runner bean and tomato casserole
In Greece, this dish is called a ladero, which means olive oil-based, so you’ll need your best extra-virgin olive oil for it. Seasonal runner beans are cooked with fresh tomatoes, garlic, white wine and stock, then scattered with a pistachio and feta crumb. Served with olive oil mashed potatoes and a carrot purée, it all combines to make a perfect accompaniment to grilled meats or fish.
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Tomato and zucchini galette
You’ll find plenty of ripe, juicy tomatoes and firm zucchinis just now, perfect for this free-form tart. You can use store-bought pastry too, so it’s all ready to go into the oven in 20 minutes. The pastry base has a layer of grated cheese over it, before onions, zucchini, tarragon and tomatoes are piled on. Simply fold over the pastry around the edges before glazing.
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Eggplant chili traybake
In this easy traybake, eggplants are baked in a rich tomato and bean sauce, and spiced up with a little chili and cumin. Once the eggplants are tender, top them with grated cheese and place under the grill until golden and bubbling. Serve with a green salad and crusty bread.
