A Little Taste of Fall
Illustration by Courtney Jentzen
We love the first signs of fall—colorful leaves, glowing afternoon light, harvest celebrations, and the bounty of seasonal ingredients. Now is the time to head to your farmer’s market to find local varieties of sweet/tart apples, green chiles, red peppers, pumpkins, squash, and wild mushrooms. Here are five of our favorite autumn recipes to make when the weather cools, from apple cider doughnuts to Irish Coffee.
Apple Cider Doughnuts
Illustration by Courtney Jentzen
As the temperature drops, the afternoon breezes pick up, and the evenings grow gradually earlier, we can’t resist the siren song of breads and cookies, pies and cakes. The time has come to bake. Fortuitously, fall baking season coincides with another one of our favorite times of year: peak apple season. Inspired by fresh-off-the-tree apples—and by the delicious doughnuts she and her family savor when they head out to Willamette Valley pumpkin patches each fall—Danielle Centoni created a recipe for baked apple cider doughnuts. Enlivened with cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice—a.k.a. pumpkin pie spices—these donuts will make your whole house smell like fall.
Find the recipe here.
Maple and Soy-Glazed Whole Roasted Salmon
Illustration by Courtney Jentzen
Leaf peeping, apple picking, pumpkin carving, and...mushroom foraging? True, it might not be as traditional a fall activity as some others, but hunting for fungi during the cool, wet months of September, October, and November can yield delicious results. After all, wild mushrooms—whether foraged in the forest or from the stalls of your local farmers market—add a delicious umami note to dishes of all sorts. We especially love the way they play off of salmon in Annie Copps’ maple and soy–glazed whole roasted salmon with pan-seared wild mushrooms. Pairing toothsome mushrooms with tender salmon basted in sweet, rich maple-soy sauce, this dish is as comforting as your coziest sweater.
Find the recipe here.
Green Chile Stew
Courtney Jentzen
In the Southwest, one scent, in particular, augurs the arrival of fall: the smell of fresh green chiles, roasting on the grill. New Mexicans, in particular, adore the spicy fruits—after all, the official state question is “Red or green?” We love green chiles in the many different ways they appear: in salsas and quesadillas, atop burgers, and floured and fried (chiles rellenos). But for a true taste of the season, nothing beats Marilyn Noble’s green chile stew: a thick, soul-warming treat that’s equally tasty alongside eggs, poured over steak, or simply enjoyed on its own, perhaps with a warm flour tortilla on the side.
Find the recipe here.
Harvest-Stuffed Squash
Illustration by Courtney Jentzen
Pumpkins, squash, and gourds are nature’s late party guests: arriving at just the moment things have started to quiet down, bringing a much-needed infusion of vitality to our gardens and kitchens. We honor these latecomers by deploying them in soups, salads, gratins, and casseroles. But our absolute favorite recipe built around squash is Melissa Pasanen’s harvest-stuffed squash, a jubilant dish that incorporates a whole cornucopia of best-in-fall ingredients: mushrooms, leeks, apples, and turkey. If that’s not a taste of the season, we don’t know what is.
Find the recipe here.
Irish Coffee
Courtney Jentzen
As the leaves change, so too do our tastes in spirits. Come fall, we bid adieu to the cocktails of summer—the mojito, gin gimlet, and spritz—and greet the dark-spirited libations of fall: the old-fashioned, the whiskey sour, the hot toddy. One of our favorite drinks to savor when the weather cools? Irish Coffee: a delicious warm-up that arrived in San Francisco by way of Ireland, made legendary by the city’s iconic Buena Vista Cafe. The beloved hot cocktail, which Stephanie Rosenbaum Klassen honors in A Little Taste of San Francisco, is simple—fresh-brewed coffee, sugar cubes, and fine Irish whiskey, topped with heavy whipped cream—but oh-so-perfect on a chilly day. Bottoms up!
Find the recipe here.
For more cozy fall recipe ideas, check out The Little Local Portland Cookbook, The Little Local Maine Cookbook, The Little Local Southwest Cookbook, The Little Local Vermont Cookbook, and A Little Taste of San Francisco.