Four Delicious Autumn Recipes from Sam Nixon

Preheat your oven to 170C fan while you get everything prepped. Slice the bacon into one centimetre chunks. Peel the onion, carrot and swede and cut into one centimetre pieces, then dice along with the celery. Finely chop the garlic and rosemary.

If you’re using a joint of brisket, trim away any big bits of fat and then cut the meat into four centimetre chunks.

Heat up the oil in an ovenproof casserole pan over a medium-high heat. In batches, brown off the beef until golden all over, then remove and set aside.

Using the same pan, fry the bacon in the butter until lightly golden. Then throw in the onion, carrot, celery and swede. Add a small pinch of salt and pepper and sweat off for two to four minutes.

Stir in the garlic, rosemary, bay leaf and tomato purée to cook for two minutes. Return the beef and any resting juices to the pan, then crumble in the beef stock cube. Stir in the plain flour and cook for a further two minutes. Now pour in the red wine and cook until you can no longer smell the alcohol.

Top up with water so the meat is just covered. Bring to a simmer. Cover the pan tightly with tinfoil and the lid, then transfer to the oven for three hours. Keep checking and stirring every hour. You may need to add a little water if it’s looking dry.

Meanwhile, prep the dumplings. Put the flour, suet, cheddar and paprika in a bowl and make a little well in the middle. Add a little cold water a bit at a time and stir until you form a dough.

Pinch off a golf ball sized piece of the dough and roll in your hands to make a ball. Repeat to make eight dumplings. Place on a plate and put them in the fridge until it’s time to cook them.

After three hours, taste the stew and correct any seasoning. If you like, you can add a little mustard, a splash of Worcestershire Sauce or a teaspoon of blackcurrant jam at this stage.

Gently place the dumplings on top of the stew and return the pan to the oven, this time without the foil or lid. Cook for a further 30 minutes until the dumplings have risen slightly and are golden on top.

Serve your stew and dumplings in a bowl – if you want to add some greens, steamed tenderstem broccoli or green beans work really well.

In a wide, shallow bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream and vanilla.

Dip the brioche into the egg mixture, one slice at a time, making sure you coat every side. Allow the excess to drip off and put the soaked brioche on a plate.

Heat a frying pan over a medium heat, add the butter and let it melt. Now place the brioche slices into the pan and fry for two to three minutes until golden.

Turn the brioche over and do the same on the other side. Once golden on both sides, stand the brioche up and fry each edge for 30 seconds.

To serve, place the brioche on a plate and top with a couple of tablespoons of Greek yoghurt. Add a small handful of fresh berries, a sprinkle of granola and finish with a good drizzle of maple syrup.

Make the sweet shortcrust pastry, cover with cling film and rest in the fridge.

Meanwhile, make the filling. Peel, core and chop the apples into two centimetre chunks. Place them in a pan with the butter, sugar, and cinnamon. Bring to a simmer.

Cook the filling until the sugar has dissolved but the apples still have their shape. Stir through the sultanas and leave to cool. Ideally, the filling should be completely cooled before you assemble the pie. You could make it the night before and keep it in the fridge once it’s cooled.

For the crumble, place all the ingredients into a large bowl and rub the butter into the flour and sugar using your thumbs and fingers until it looks like breadcrumbs, but keep it a bit chunky to add texture.

Preheat a baking sheet in the oven at 180C fan.

Remove the pastry from the fridge. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry to about half a centimetre thick. Gently line a nine-inch tart mould with the pastry. Remove the excess pastry that hangs over the rim of the mould.

Add the apple filling, top with the crumble and bake in the oven on the baking sheet for 30 minutes.

Once cooked, allow the pie to cool slightly before removing it carefully from the mould. Serve with vanilla ice cream or custard.

Pour the cyder and ginger beer into a large pan. Add the orange zest and juice, all of the spices and the bay leaves. Slice the clementine and apple, then add to the pan.

Slowly mull the cyder over a low heat – the slower the better, to give all the flavours time to infuse. Don’t allow it to boil.

Ladle into mugs and drink while it’s hot.