3 Hearty comfort foods for fall

Temperatures are dropping and the majority of the day it’s raining cats and dogs. Outdoor activities leave you feeling chilled and hungry. Hearty comfort food is abundantly available at the farmers markets and supermarkets: pumpkins, squash, corn, potatoes. I decided to get it all and take advantage of the seasonal produce while I can. It did take me some time to prepare, but hey, when it’s wet and cold outside cooking is an excellent indoor activity to keep you busy and actually enjoy the moment. The aromas fill up my home, and the oven warms me while I’m working at my kitchen counter and listening to the jazzy notes of Gregory Porter’s album. Fall’s fun moments.

I made three dishes:

1. Roasted vegetables
2. Sweet potato mash
3. Mushroom medley with sausage

Scroll down for the recipes

Roasting the vegetables with drizzles of olive oil and honey made the colours come out even more. The orange of the pumpkin and carrots really pops and is in sheer contrast to the green brussels sprouts. The combination of different flavours was just perfect: the sweetness of the pumpkin, the bitterness of the brussels sprouts, a little zing from the sour Granny Smith apple, and the earthy and fresh taste of eggplant and zucchini.Add to that the flavour of rosemary, thyme and scallions and a few cloves of roasted garlic.

I sauteed the mushrooms with baked sausages and roasted garlic, then sprinkled fresh thyme on top. It looks like a walk in the woods. The nutty and salty flavours blend so well together. The sweet potato mash is of course sweet but I added a pinch of cinnamon and salt to give it that extra fall essence.

Roasted Vegetables

• 1/4 pumpkin, unseeded and cut into thin slices
• 1 small zucchine, thinly sliced
• 1 small eggplant, thinly sliced
• 1 Granny Smith apple, thinly sliced
• 6 carrots
• hand of brussels sprouts
• 4 scallions, peeled
• 4 garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 6 sprigs of rosemary
• 6 sprigs of thyme
• 4 bay leafs
• olive oil
• salt and black pepper
• honey

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C
2. Take a baking tray and cover it with baking paper
3. Arrange the carrots, pumpkin, zucchini, eggplant, apple, rosemary sprigs, thyme sprigs, bay leafs on the baking tray
4. Make a cross in each brussels sprout with a knife to let them cook faster, and add them to the baking tray
5. Cut the peeled scallions in half and add them to the baking tray
6. Lastly, crush the garlic cloves still in their skin by putting the blade of a big knife on top and pushing it down with the palm of your hand, and add them in their skin between the vegetables
7. Add salt and paper according to your taste
8. Drizzle one tablespoon of honey over the vegetables
9. Drizzle two tablespoons of olive oil over the vegetables and toss everything so that it is evenly covered
10. Slide the baking tray in the oven and leave to roast for 20 min, occasionally tossing the vegetables
11. Take the baking tray out of the oven and discard the bay leafs, sprigs and garlic cloves (don’t throw away the garlic, you’ll need it for the mushrooms dish)

Sweet potato mash

• 2 sweet potatoes
• pinch of salt
• pinch of cinnamon
• butter
• 1/2 cup of milk

Directions

1. Boil the patatos
2. Mash them and add the milk and butter to make it smooth
3. Add a pinch of salt and cinnamon

Mushroom medley with sausages

• 4 sausages (I used chicken but pork or beef is fine too)
• an assortment of 3 different mushrooms
• 5 thyme sprigs
• butter
• salt
• 2 whole cloves of roasted garlic (taken from the roasted vegetables dish)

Directions

1. Cut the larger mushrooms in chunks, leaving smaller ones whole
2. Pan fry the sausages in a sautee pan until brown
3. Add the roasted garlic, thyme leaves and mushrooms and sautee ingredients for 5 minutes
4. Discard the roasted garlic
5. Flavour with a pinch of salt

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