An autumn meal

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, as said some poet-johnny who liked being drippy about stuff. And because it tends to get a bit dingy at this time of year, also the season of getting home from work in the dark and having to knock up a quick supper before some surprisingly good tv.

I just despise people who are all "oh I picked these apples myself in my orchard ACTually, it's so much more NATural that way" and "oh but we always have venison, of course, my husband shoots it, don't'cha know, YAH". But I'm going to tell you about my supper because although it's made with apples that I did pick from my orchard and venison my husband did shoot, I'm battling past the self-disgust because the stuff's also available in shops too, there are easy substitutes and - crucially - it's cheap and totally uncomplicated. And I used gravy powder. I'm not Nigella fucking Lawson.

There are SO MANY great autumnal things. There are root vegetables and nuts and orchard fruits and blackberries, corn and wheat and robust green leaves. Importantly, Winter was traditionally the time when animals were slaughtered, plump and oven-ready from the grass of summer and the bounty of autumn – but it's perfectly acceptable to get started early, in my opinion and tuck into hog flesh while the sun's still in the sky. With the darkening days also comes the time for shooting and stalking, so there's a super-abundance of meat about.

Meat should be the star of many autumn dishes, even a quick supper. For this meal, I defrosted some roe deer venison, but the dish would also work well with pork chops. Just salt it and pan-fry it, sticking some black pudding in too. Black pudding is splendidly salty and sweet and mild and creamy, so perfect with game or other bits of pig. And it's delicious. Wait until the meat is cooked exactly how you like it - and until the black pudding turns black.

Venison and black pudding and red cabbage are all excellent with apple - they love acid and sweetness. So let's do some red cabbage and apple. Dice the apple, cook it with a touch of water. If it's cooking apple (Bramley, ideally) it will need to be sweetened - I put in some redcurrant and port jelly, but just port would be just fine, or any dark fruit jam. I also added chopped bacon, but that's up to you. Bit more water, thinly slice the cabbage - cook till it looks nice.

And as it's cold out you'll need comfort carb - potatoes. I don't need to tell you how to cook potatoes. And gravy. If you're anything like me, you'll be in a rush and use gravy powder, into which you can stir some more jelly/jam if you want. Black pepper. So simple.

The whole thing takes - what - 20 minutes, though it looks more. 3 pans, which if you have any gumption you can make someone else wash up. And is very low-fat, with loads of fruit and veg. And SEASONAL. And - by the way - absolutely delicious.

Comments

[Donut]

I love the idea of having black pudding for dinner. I thought it was only ever served as a breakfast food - a decadent one at that. Actually, I do need to know how to cook potatoes as there are so many varieties in the UK. I never know if the skin on my new potatoes is meant to lift, nor do I know which variety to use for jacket potatoes. Lovely blog post. Makes me hungry for black pudding and a roaring fire.

[Terentia]

You've almost reconciled me to autumn. I look forward to your making me feel good about the winter......

[El Encuadernador - ahora para El Papa]

Brilliant....couldn't agree more. Where did your husband shoot the deer. Regents Park? Richmond Park?....there are more than enough there.

And I hope the black pudding was Morcilla de Burgos and not that boring ehnglis stuff.

For your autumn theme this is a brillaint year for fungi...again plenty of parasols in Richmond Park...so many that we are drying them. ALso a good year for ceps.

[Eleanor]

Have you thought of using black pudding as the basis for a starter course?
Instead of leaving it as large slices, cut into chunks and pan-fry with chopped bacon and onion. Towards the end (about six minutes) throw in some cubed, strongly-flavoured cheese such as ricotta or even a blue, but only for a minute so that the cheese warms.
Serve on a bed of rocket, ensuring that all of the juices go onto the plates.
This also makes a tasty lunch with a selection of salads and some crusty bread.

[DDD]

The salad sounds scrumptious (three types of protein makes anything a winner).

I do worry about serving black pudding to friends, but then again, one could say 'why be friends with people who don't like black pudding?' It also sounds so delicious I might have to enter Debbie-doesn't-share-food mode.