October

Mushrooms

Mushrooms are a simple pleasure with a dense, musky, unbeatable taste. They're a treat for all five senses: rustling through forests and hedgerows with a basket on the hunt for funghi that are wild and free, gently brushing them clean, the squeak of the knife as you slice into them, the way they hungrily soak up butter as they fry. And that's before they reach your plate.

Although mushrooms can be added to more or less anything, from casseroles and stews, to soups and stir fries, to pasta and pies, they're most rewarding when their flavours are allowed to sing out clearly. Pair mushrooms with firm friends such as a juicy steak or soft French or Italian cheese. For a swift mushroom hit, make an open tart using puff pastry, sliced mushrooms and basil, or stuff Portobello mushrooms with a mixture of garlic, fresh herbs and feta or ricotta, then roast until the filling has melted, grilling at the end if necessary. For sensual simplicity, stir fried mushrooms into a cream sauce and ladle over thick slices of buttered toast.

A mixture of mushrooms will create contrasts in texture and add depth to your dish. Try frying mixed wild mushrooms and garlic in a little olive oil, then stir into cooked penne, adding more olive oil as necessary, and sprinkling over a touch of parmesan cheese. Try not to stir your mushrooms too much as they cook, or they will release their juices and stew instead of fry. To retain mushrooms' natural moisture, leave them to brown in the pan, then move gently only once and leave again.

• Risotto of fresh (wild) mushrooms by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
• Mushroom and ricotta parcels by The Mushroom Bureau
• Chicken and wild mushroom pie by David Myers and Simon King from The Hairy Bikers
• Wild mushrooms on crostini (funghi trifolati) by Anna Venturi from Saturday Kitchen
• Baby courgettes and chanterelle mushrooms with basil by Valentine Warner from What to Eat Now
• Wild mushroom lasagne by Valentine Warner from What to Eat Now
• Fillet steak with Chateaubriand sauce and straw fries by James Martin from Saturday Kitchen
• Wild mushroom pilaff by Anjum Anand from Indian Food Made Easy
• Portobello stuffed mushroom brunch by Emma Crowhurst from Food and Drink
• Pastry layers with wild mushrooms, Norfolk asparagus and blue cheese dressing by Galton Blackiston from Great British Menu
• Find more mushroom recipes

Grouse

Grouse is a rich, tasty, coarse meat that owes its flavour to the heather the birds graze on. It is generally found in the wilds of Scotland, Northern Ireland and on the heaths of northern England.

Try wrapping grouse breasts in bacon and serving the meat cooked in its own juices, with wild rice and dark green leaves such as watercress or kale: the bacon will keep the bird moist. Or braise jointed grouse slowly in wine and stock with celery and onions and tuck it into pastry for a comforting game pie. Alternatively, roast individual birds and serve with all the trimmings to ring the changes for a traditional Sunday lunch. For a starter or snack, blend grouse meat into pâté and serve with Melba toast and a seasonal accompaniment such as redcurrant sauce or jelly.

• Roast grouse with pâté and bread sauce by Lawrence Keogh from Saturday Kitchen
• Roasted grouse with white chocolate mousse and black olive toffee by Björn van der Horst from Saturday Kitchen
• Roasted early season grouse with celeriac purée, wild mushrooms and Highland Burgundy potatoes by Tom Kitchin from Great British Menu
• Pan-fried grouse with skirlie and glazed beetroot by Nick Nairn

Pumpkins

Pumpkins take centre stage in October, lighting up driveways and leering at us through windows in the run up to Halloween. But they’re not just pretty faces, so if you’re disembowelling a few for this year’s festivities, make sure you experiment with their insides.

Blend the flesh into smooth, thick soups, finished with a swirl of cream - a small pumpkin can provide a satisfying meal for one. For a pot-luck broth that hits the spot, roughly chop and boil equal quantities of pumpkin, potatoes and sweet potatoes in stock, along with one onion, a tomato, an ear of sweetcorn and a bunch of fresh coriander. When the vegetables are tender, chop them more finely to create a delicious, chunky soup.

Stir meltingly sweet cubes of fried pumpkin into risottos or curries, offsetting the flavours with fragrant herbs such as sage or thyme, or warming spices such as ginger. Alternatively, serve pumpkin stuffed into pasta, pasties or gnocchi, or use it to beef up warm salads.

Sweet dishes need not be limited to pumpkin pie. Stir puréed pumpkin into a cheesecake filling for a less sickly take on this decadent dessert. Or try making pumpkin halwa – the nutty flavour of the pumpkin flesh blends well with the other nuts and seeds. Roasted pumpkin seeds are great on their own as snacks and can be incorporated into flapjacks and biscuits, or used to garnish tarts and cakes.

• Pumpkin and tofu laksa by Celia Brooks Brown
• Roasted pumpkin and garlic soup with parmesan croûtons and parsley oil by Peter Bayless
• Pumpkin risotto with crispy sage by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
• Butternut, pecan, ricotta and sage pasties by Peter Gordon
• Pumpkin gnocchi by Gennaro Contaldo from Saturday Kitchen
• Haitian roast chicken with two stuffings served with pumpkin rice by Levi Roots from Caribbean Food Made Easy
• Pumpkin lasagne by Antony Worrall Thompson from Saturday Kitchen
• Pumpkin ravioli with sage butter (video recipe) by Paul Merrett from Get Cooking
• Venison with juniper berries, sour cherry sauce and pumpkin mash by Silvena Rowe from Saturday Kitchen
• Carrot fritters and roast pumpkin salad by Antony Worrall Thompson from Saturday Kitchen
• Warm pumpkin and chickpea salad with tahini by Sam and Sam Clark
• Pumpkin cheesecake
• Pumpkin drop scones by Tony Tobin from Ready Steady Cook
• Pumpkin halwa by Sejal Sukhadwala
• Roast pumpkin seeds by Antony Worrall Thompson from Saturday Kitchen
• Chewy seedy oat and apricot bars by Rachel Allen from Rachel's Favourite Food at Home
• Find more pumpkin recipes

Elderberries

Elderberries are not commercially grown but can easily be found growing in the wild. Pick the heads of the berries and be sure to wash and cook them thoroughly before using - raw elderberries contain a poisonous alkaloid but become harmless when cooked.

Simmer your elderberries to make cordial or syrup, then shake with ice and vodka to make cocktails. Match the syrup with stewed blackberries and stir into fools or mousses, or ripple it into ice cream batter instead of the traditional raspberry syrup. Alternatively, add elderberries to fruit pies such as apple pie or steamed sponges such as plum sponge.

Elderberries can also be stewed down and served on the side of roast meats such as duck, pork or game. Alternatively, make elderberry wine and use it to deglaze your roasting tin for a rich, fruity gravy.

• Tom Jones by Wayne Collins from Something for the Weekend
• Furlong fizz (elderberry spritzer) by Merlin Griffiths from Saturday Kitchen

Marrows

Marrows are, quite literally, the daddies of courgettes – they're courgettes that have been left on the plant to grow. Alan Davidson gives marrows short shrift in his Oxford Companion to Food, and attributes the vegetable’s popularity to gardening competitions in England, where, traditionally, it was size, not flavour, that mattered.

Marrows are an acquired taste, more watery and bland than young, sweet courgettes, but they’re a wonderful blank canvas for spiced or strongly flavoured foods. Add marrows to curries to soak up and amplify the flavours of the spices, or stuff them with marinated meat, pungent cheese or hot chorizo. Alternatively, pickle your glut of marrows in vinegar with a selection of crunchy vegetables and serve with cheese as a snack, or as a side dish with cooked ham or curries.

• Chorizo, pepper and couscous stuffed marrow and rosemary roasted marrow by Antony Worrall Thompson from Saturday Kitchen
• Ham hock terrine with pickled marrow by James Martin from Saturday Kitchen
• Red vegetable curry by Antony Worrall Thompson from Saturday Kitchen
• Lamb-stuffed rolled marrow with salad by James Martin from Saturday Kitchen
• Picalilli

Watercress

Watercress leaves have a mustardy bite that makes them natural bedfellows to strongly flavoured meats such as game. The leaves are most commonly served raw as a garnish to eggs or meat, or as part of a salad with orange segments. Watercress also makes a pleasingly peppery soup that is as good hot as it is chilled.

Vitamin-rich watercress has long been valued as a health-giving plant, with various cultures attributing powerful properties to it. The Romans and Anglo-Saxons thought watercress prevented hair loss, while Francis Bacon hailed the plant as an anti-ageing wonder product.

Scramble eggs with a dash of double cream until fluffy, then fold in watercress leaves until wilted and season, to taste. Or add them to a Spanish-style tortilla instead of spinach, with chopped chorizo or fried garlic. Alternatively, layer the watercress leaves at the bottom of ramekins and spoon over a cheesy soufflé mixture.

• Smoked salmon and spinach tart with watercress pesto and salad by James Martin from Saturday Kitchen
• Frittata selection by Nigella Lawson from Nigella Express
• Watercress soup with poached egg by James Tanner from Ready Steady Cook
• Dolcelatte and watercress soufflé by Gino d'Acampo from Ready Steady Cook
• Tomato, potato and watercress salad with gorgonzola dressing by Sophie Grigson
• Beer-battered oysters with watercress and red onion salad by James Martin from Saturday Kitchen
• Deep-fried goats' cheese with winter pear and watercress salad by Paul Gayler from Saturday Kitchen
• Orange and watercress salad by James Martin from Housecall
• Spanish-style tortilla by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
• Find more watercress recipes

Also in season

1. apples
2. artichoke
3. aubergines
4. beetroot
5. blackberries
6. brill
7. broccoli
8. butternut squash
9. carrots
10. celeriac
11. celery
12. chestnuts
13. clams
14. courgettes
15. crab
16. duck
17. fennel
18. garlic
19. grapes
20. grey mullet
21. goose
22. guinea fowl
23. haddock
24. hake
25. halibut
26. hare
27. John Dory
28. kale
29. kohlrabi
30. leeks
31. lemon sole
32. lobster
33. mackerel
34. marrrow
35. melons
36. monkfish
37. mussels
38. onions
39. partridge
40. pheasant
41. pears
42. peppers
43. plaice
44. plums
45. potatoes (main crop)
46. pumpkin
47. quince
48. radishes
49. rabbit
50. rocket
51. scallops
52. sea bass
53. squid
54. sweetcorn
55. tomatoes
56. turbot
57. turnips
58. venison
59. wild mushrooms
60. wood pigeon