Harissa roasted sweet potatoes with blue cheese

I love all the colours of summer, especially when in the form of gorgeous fruit and veg. These tomatoes are some of my Mum’s homegrown beauties, the very last of the season. So vivid and totally delicious served with fresh basil and torn mozzarella.

All photography © Heather Elizabeth Wilkinson 2012

Autumn is my favourite season – the changes in light, misty mornings and the promise that we’ll soon be wrapping up cosily in hats and scarves. But of course Autumn brings with it some fantastic seasonal produce – pumpkins, elderberries, chestnuts, game, pears, and the daddy of English autumnal produce: apples.

Apple Festival takes place on 21st October each year and orchards and farms up and down the country organise festivities to celebrate this wonderful fruit. What great month to be an apple!

Brogdale Farm in Kent is home to the National Fruit Collection; the World’s largest collection of fruit trees and plants and home to over 3,500 varieties of apple, pear, plum, cherry, bush fruit, vine and cob nut cultivators.

Brogdale has been on my list of places to visit for a while now, so the Apple Festival (20th & 21st October 2012) was just the excuse I needed to hotfoot it to Kent. The festival itself is quite a family affair, with various food & drink stalls, crafts and live music (it’s safe to say that some of the bands were an ‘acquired’ taste).

Included in the ticket price is a guided tour of the orchards, each one being led by one of Brogdale’s knowledgeable staff, many of whom are volunteers. For me, this was one of the highlights of the visit. You can quite literally loose yourself wandering up and down the lines of trees looking at fruits of all different sizes and colours. And with names like the: Marriage-maker, Blackbird, Prince Edward it really is a fantastic way to spend a few hours.

And of course, no apple festival would be complete without a generous dose of apple sampling. At the heart of the festival arena was a large tent with over 400 varieties of apple on display and over 200 for visitors to taste and buy. To be honest, this part of the festival was a bit of a free-for-all, and you had to employ some elbowing tactics to stand any chance of trying the apples that had been laid out. Still, I managed to try plenty and came away a mixed bag (quite literally) of my favourites.

I decided not to cook with the apples I bought, preferring instead as an alternative to dessert. When produce is in season and so tasty it’s sometimes nice to enjoy it just as it is, don’t you think?

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This recipe has become a fav recently, though it has taken me a little time to get the balance of taste and texture just right. The distinctive flavour of the crab, combined with the subtle sweetness of apple. It might sound a bit crazy but the two really do work well together.

I went through a fair bit of trial and error before settling on the final recipe for these crab cakes. My main concern was that the flavour of the apple would be lost when combined with the crab, but, as I discovered, provided the apple you use has a real depth of flavour, such as Cox’s Orange Pippin, you will be able to taste it, albeit subtly.

As luck would have it, Cox’s Orange Pippins are in season this month! If you can’t get hold of the Orange Pippins then any other variety of apple with a firm texture (not floury) and a good strength of flavour will suffice.

The other important point to note is that it’s crucial to remove as much juice from the grated apples as possible or your mixture will just be too wet to form successful fishcakes. Once I’d grated my apples I used a muslin bag to squeeze out as much juice as I could.

You will need
500g crabmeat
500g potatoes
A handful of finely chopped fresh coriander
1 lime
Half a tsp of dried chilli flakes
3 medium-sized apples (Cox are best), grated
Olive oil
Sea salt & black pepper
Serves 4 – 6 

Ideally you should make the crab cakes the day before you plan to eat them – they will hold together better if they’ve been left to chill in the fridge over night.

1.) Peel and chop the potatoes, add to a pan of salted boiling water and cook for about 15 to 20 mins, or until tender.
2.) Drain the water from the potatoes and then add back to the pan, add a pinch of salt and pepper and mash.
3.) Add the mashed potato to a large bowl with the crabmeat, grated apple, the grated zest of the lime and half its juice, the chilli and the coriander. Mix until all the ingredients are well combined.
4.) Line a couple of baking trays with greaseproof paper or tin foil and set to one side.
5.) Divide your mixture into portions, shape into patties in the palm of your hand and then place on the lined baking trays. (Dust your hands lightly with flour if the mixture is sticking.)
6.) Chill the fishcakes in the fridge overnight.
7.) When you’re ready to cook, add a tablespoon of olive oil to a frying pan and place on a high heat. 8.) Add the fishcakes to the pan in batches, frying each for about 6-8 minutes, turning halfway, or until they have lightly browned on both sides. Because of the apple, these fishcakes are moister than a lot of recipes so they won’t go ultra crispy. Try to resist the temptation of repeatedly turning your fishcakes; they’ll hold together better and develop a richer brown colour if you’re brave and turn them just the once!

All photography © Heather Elizabeth Wilkinson 2012