Autumn food stars: what to cook, plant and pick now

Cook up mushrooms, leeks and foraged chestnuts, pick fruit, sow broad beans for spring and harvest squash

Quince
Hard as a baseball and initially unpromising, quince are at their best cooked until beautifully aromatic. To save the torture of peeling (thank you, queen of preserving Pam Corbin), poach whole until soft, cool, then discard the core and blitz.

Leeks
Try cooking these sweet, oniony joys in a moderate oven, wrapped in foil with just a dash of olive oil and a sliced garlic clove per leek, until soft and luscious – about 40 minutes, depending on thickness.

Apple
Of the thousands of apple varieties, you’ll find only a few in the shops. For those with the best flavour and texture – including Egremont Russet, Worcester Pearmain, and Cox’s Orange Pippin – buy direct or from online suppliers, such as Riverford.

Squash
As good as a standard butternut can be, Uchiki Kuri, crown prince and acorn table are a class apart and really worth looking for. Roast unpeeled and deseeded, with a little oil and earthy spices, until soft.

Porcini and chanterelles
September and October are the best time to pick chanterelles (AKA girolles) and porcini (AKA ceps/penny buns), when warm weather followed by rain makes them most abundant. Take John Wright’s Mushrooms: River Cottage Handbook to identify them, or buy fresh fungi online.

Chestnuts
Autumn doesn’t feel fully here until I’m roasting chestnuts (while silently singing) over an open fire. Cut a cross into the end and cook using a chestnut roaster or dry frying pan, until their scent rises and the skin splits, being careful not to burn them, as they turn bitter easily.

Chillies
Most supermarket chillies are within a narrow band of heat, flavour and aroma: order from specialist growers, such as South Devon Chilli Farm, and choose from the milder chillies, such as the rich and complex poblano to the super-hots, like Carolina Reaper.

In the garden

Sow broad beans knuckle deep for an early crop in spring (Claudia Aquadulce are best in autumn).

Harvest squash by cutting them with a short stalk (it helps prevent rotting) and store somewhere light and cool to ripen for a week or so before storing until ready to use.

Pick and ripen any remaining tomatoes on a sunny windowsill or in a paper bag with a banana – the ethylene helps them develop.

Dig up and compost any pepper, chilli, tomato and aubergine plants as the first frosts will finish them off.