Spicy aubergine with tomatoes and chick peas

Aubergines are a much underrated vegetable, I think. In the cuisines of the Middle East they often have a starring role, but the only aubergine dish that's ever really caught on in British cuisine is the stuffed aubergine, a dish which cannot even be described as unjustly maligned.

Yet aubergines are beautiful, with their glossy black skins, and quite unlike any other vegetable. They perhaps have some similarity to courgettes, with their mild flavour and soft texture when cooked, but the texture of a cooked aubergine has a velvety, melting quality all its own. And their ability to soak up flavours is unparalleled.

In this dish I've matched them with spices to make the most of this ability to soak up flavours, plus tomatoes and chick peas, both ingredients with which aubergines have a natural affinity (see also this recipe). The result is a healthy dish which is quick enough for a weekday supper. If you have leftovers, the flavours will develop so it's perhaps even better the next day.

The magic of slow-roasted tomatoes

I bought these tomatoes for a ridiculously small amount of money from a stall on Streatham High Road. Actually, loving a bargain as I do, I bought these and quite a few more besides.

When I couldn't use them all before they went soft, the answer was a long, slow spell in the oven. I'm aware this is hardly a recipe - but I loved how colourful they looked. And the result was exceptionally delicious.

An apple cake for autumn

If blackberries are the fruit that speak of late summer, then apples sum up autumn for me in all its fruitfulness. There's so much generosity about a tree that's laden with fruit, especially a fruit as versatile as an apple.

On a walk last weekend I gathered an armful of windfalls scattered along a footpath. They were a bit bruised, but after a bit of preparation, fine for cooking with. But what to make? I've got quite a few ways of using up a glut of apples - everything from crumble to chutney and even a savoury pie with cheese and onion.

But my all time favourite is apple cake. I've made this cake most autumns for the last ten years, and it was a real pleasure to make it again. It's full of fruit and spices - not the most elegant kind of cake perhaps, but very good.

Tomato and onion crumble

From a sweet crumble to a savoury one...

I'm quite fond of a savoury crumble. It may sound an odd concept, but it can be an easy way to turn a few ingredients into something that seems like a coherent dish. I'd recommend breadcrumbs for an easy savoury topping, though you could do something with oats and flour if you wanted.

I'm making the most of tomatoes while they are still in season. Not only that, one of my local convenience stores does a decent range of fruit and veg, including a 5kg box of vine tomatoes which works out significantly cheaper than if you buy them loose. As you may have noticed, I do like a bargain. Ok, it's not quite the same as having a superabundance of tomatoes from your own garden, but here's my first dish to tackle my tomato glut.

Wild berries and a healthy fruit crumble

I'm feeling replenished after a week on the beautiful Isle of Arran. And my timing was unintentionally brilliant. The blackberries might be on their last legs down south, but on Arran they were perfect. I don't think I have ever seen such a profusion of them. The bramble plants were everywhere, their thorny stems thrusting through fences and around bushes like an illustration of unstoppable life-force. And almost every hedgerow was studded with shiny black berries, most of them so large and plump it was almost impossible to pass by without picking a few.

Musings on blackberries

It's been a good year for blackberries. I think I've picked about 4kg of them in the last couple of weeks. Mostly, I admit, I've procrastinated by putting them in the freezer. But then there's nothing wrong with that. It means they're there for winter crumbles, pies, or my absolute favourite - blackberry caramel crumble tart.

In the mean time, I'm feeling lazy - so I'm eating blackberries scattered generously over home-made muesli for breakfast, or in a simple fruit salad with chunks of orange-fleshed Charentais melon.

Chick pea salad with tomato and goats' cheese

Apparently it's been the warmest, driest and sunniest summer since 2006. Despite the turn for the worse today, I'm hoping that summer's last hurrah may be yet to come.

What a difference a day makes, though. Tonight there's a chill in the air. Yesterday the warm evening demanded a picnic, just in case it should be the last of the year, and the park was full of others enjoying the last rays of sunshine.

Here's what I ate on the picnic. Tomatoes and aubergines are pretty much at the height of their season now, and tomatoes in particular are as cheap as they come. This dish partners them with chick peas and warming Middle Eastern spices, and is the kind of salad that is a meal in itself.

Making the salad