10 recipes to cook in September

With a number of technical elements and a significant prep time, this roasted mallard recipe from Robert Thompson is not for the faint-hearted. However, the end result will be more than worth it, with the deep flavours of the chestnut and pumpkin combining perfectly with the rich duck and crunchy Panko breadcrumbs. Serving four people, pull this off and you will be hosting for months to come.

Whilst the festive season may still be a few months away, chestnuts are widely available from September onwards. Theo Randall provides us with his sumptuous risotto recipe, which offers a fantastic way to take advantage of these distinctive nuts. As with all risottos, this dish requires a little patience but will be well worth it, with a dash of brandy providing a warm heartiness against the sweetness of the chestnuts.

Alan Murchison uses cobnuts to garnish his delicious wood pigeon recipe. When fresh, these nuts have a distinct coconut flavour, which becomes sweeter and juicier as the nut matures. He combines the pigeon and nuts with a carrot purée and plates with bok choi to produce a wonderfully seasonal and earthy starter.

Celebrate the British game season in style with the Galvin brothers’ delicious grouse recipe. The chefs have selected it as one of their Dishes of the Decade, which is no mean feat. The grouse is prepared alongside the classic accompaniments of game chips and bread sauce and is served with fresh, peppery watercress. Why not try this recipe as an alternative to a traditional Sunday roast?

There is never a bad time for a warm, chocolate doughnut, but Adam Gray adds an elegant twist to these decadent treats with a creamy damson fool. British damsons are widely available throughout the autumn and make a fantastic alternative to the more common plums. Served with a damson purée, Italian meringue and a generous dusting of sugar, these desserts are guaranteed to impress.

Make the most of seasonal fruits with Graham Campbell’s superb pavlova recipe. Blackberries, figs and plums are combined with a blackberry purée, vanilla cream and light, airy meringues. Roast the figs and plums in the oven with a drizzle of honey to add an extra helping of sweetness to the soft fruits and create the perfect autumnal dessert.

Nathan Outlaw uses local Porthilly oysters from his native Cornwall to produce his delicious crispy oyster recipe. He rolls each oyster in flour, egg and finally Panko breadcrumbs before deep-fat frying until crisp. He then serves them in their original shells alongside a pickled vegetable salad and a healthy dollop of citrus mayonnaise to form the perfect September canapé.

Elder trees burst into life in September, sprouting forth with huge clusters of elderberries. These deep purple berries are only around for a month or so, but you can preserve them in all sorts of different ways. Our favourite is this elderberry vinegar – so simple, but perfect for bringing fruity balance to your cooking for the rest of the year.

Salsify is an odd vegetable – it always appears in shops in September, but few of us really know what to do with it. This ingenious recipe from Geoffrey Smeddle turns the root veg into silky pasta-like strands, and swaddles it around a gorgeous piece of confit pork cheek. Salsify gets alarmingly sticky once you peel it and has a propensity to turn brown very quickly, so making these ribbons is a fiddly job, but the results are more than worth the wait!

Autumn fruits like apples, pears, plums and quince are a little more robust than their summery cousins, which makes them perfect for the intense heat of the barbecue. Ben Tish's simple but utterly delicious dessert starts with fruit charred on the barbecue, and matches it with a creamy honey sabayon and aromatic thyme syrup.