After a pretty miserable, cold summer here on the Burren, Autumn has a come a little too soon! I am still waiting for the torrential rain to cease, the clouds to part, the howling gales to slow to a warm breeze, for the sun to burst through and feel the heat on my pale skin… forever hopeful.

Meanwhile, I will close the door and light the fire. Now is the time to cheer ourselves with the Autumn harvest, reap the benefits of all our hard work (or other's) in the orchard and garden and dream up some comforting recipes. This season is a cook's treat, with endless possibilities of savoury and sweet delights, using nature's splendid selection of ingredients. If, like me, you can't quite let go of a salad for lunch, here is a tasty Autumnal burst of red on a plate. Very simple to make, delicious to eat and beetroot is good for your liver!

Beetroot, Red Cabbage and Red Onion Salad with Crème Fraiche and Chervil

Ingredients:

• 2 raw beetroot, peeled and finely grated
• ¼ raw red cabbage, cored and very finely sliced
• 1 small red onion, peeled, halved and finely sliced
• 6 healthy dollops of crème fraiche

For the dressing:

• Sea salt and black pepper
• A small handful of extra fine capers
• A splash of balsamic vinegar
• A few more splashes of olive oil

Mix all the dressing ingredients together in a bowl. Toss the raw red vegetables in the dressing and have a taste, when satisfied with the seasoning, add the chervil, mix delicately and serve on plates with a dollop of the crème fraiche on the side.

I have a lovely friend who is a spectacular gardener and seems to defeat the weather with her array of exotic vegetables. She does have a tunnel. When I am lucky enough to share Liz's company, she tends to travel with a basket - or Tardis - of her produce, which never fails to inspire!

Hearty Harvest Vegetable Stew

Ingredients

• Olive oil
• 2 red onions, sliced
• 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 butternut squash or pumpkin, peeled, deseeded and cut into chunks
• 2 heaped teaspoon ground coriander
• 2 heaped teaspoon ground cumin
• 500g ripe tomatoes, halved
• 2 medium courgettes, chopped
• 1 chilli, deseeded and chopped
• 2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 1 tin chickpeas
• 2 healthy sprigs thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• salt and pepper
• vegetable stock or water
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 1 bunch coriander, leaves picked

Garlicky Yoghurt

• 250mls organic natural youghurt
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• juice of half a lemon
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 200c/400f/gas6

Put the butternut squash in a layer on a baking tray and toss in a good glug of olive oil, a generous pinch of salt and pepper and the ground cumin and coriander.

Roast in the oven for about 20 minutes, until slightly crisp and caramelised.

Place the halved tomatoes cut side up in another baking tray and sprinkle with olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme leaves. Roast in the oven for 20-25 minutes.

Meanwhile, on a medium heat and in a pan big enough to accommodate all the ingredients, sweat the onions, garlic, chilli and ginger in a tablespoon of olive oil, for about 7 minutes, until soft but not brown.

Turn up the heat, add the red pepper and fry for a few minutes and add the courgettes.

Stir occasionally, encouraging the vegetables to brown a little.

When the squash and tomatoes are nicely roasted add them to the pan along with the chickpeas and bay leaves. Make sure you get all the juices from the tomatoes and scrapings from the squash, it all adds flavour.

Put in enough stock or water to loosen the stew a little and simmer over a gentle heat for 15 minutes.

Pour in the cider vinegar, stir and taste, adjust the seasoning if necessary.

Make the garlicky yoghurt, by mixing all the ingredients together in a bowl.

Serve the stew piping hot, sprinkled with fresh coriander, a dollop of the garlicky yoghurt and freshly baked bread.

When the temperature drops my natural response or urge is for something warm, sweet and creamy with a cup of tea. This is tea time heaven. (Also good at breakfast, lunch or dinner)

Pear and Almond Cake

Ingredients

• 115g butter, softened
• 220g ground almonds
• 1tsp baking powder
• 4 egg yolks
• 220g caster sugar
• 4 pears, peeled cored and quartered
• sifted icing sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 180c/350f/gas4.

Grease a cake tin with butter and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of the almonds to coat. Lay the quartered pears over the base of the tin. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in a bowl until pale and fluffy. Fold in the ground almonds and baking powder, then mix in the butter thoroughly. Pour the mixture over the pears and bake for about 40 minutes, until golden. Place the cake on a wire rack to cool slightly, before turning out onto a plate. Dust with icing sugar and serve with lashings of double cream and a cup of tea.