Apples and pears from northern Europe are the fruits to enjoy now, alongside the new season’s Mediterranean citrus and pomegranates. Why are new season’s apples so seductive? They are not velvety and luscious like peaches, nor bursting with juice like muscatel grapes.

The tropical languor conjured up by fragrant mangoes is quite absent, as is the frank sensuousness of biting into a ripe, warm fig. In comparison, the apple is a rather brisk, tart, uncompromising, sensible fruit, rather like a Scottish grandmother.

Scrumping apples was a time-honoured October activity in the village where I grew up in Yorkshire. We would go out just after dusk had fallen, the air smoky with bonfires.

The smallest child would go through the gap in the railings of the orchard attached to one of the large houses, and hand the booty over to the big ones. And inevitably, as with Eve, the magisterial voice of authority was not far away. In my case, it was the village bobby addressing the school next day, all 17 of us, on the sanctity of private property.

Edward Bunyard, the English nurseryman, pomologist and gastronome, writing, in the late 1920s, in his Anatomy of Dessert, extolls November as a “month which welcomes the ripening Cox, the mellowing Comice, a time for rejoicing.

“With some game in the covers and some Burgundy in the cellar, let the population be reduced by all possible means. Let them go to lands of everlasting veal and un-ripened oranges, let them quaff their Chianti and other acidulous beverages, we grudge them not their fare”. But why choose one over the other? Veal and Chianti have their place on our table, so too do venison or pheasant and a good bottle of Burgundy, followed by cheese and juicy pears or a crisp apple.

These fruit are excellent for cooking as well as dessert and I find they work well not just with sweet ingredients, but with savoury ingredients too. You might consider a variation on the baked apple theme, filling the hole left after you have removed the core with a mixture of grated cheese and walnuts instead of dried fruit and brown sugar.

The other day I caramelised a sliced green apple to serve with some pork fillet and creamy mashed potatoes, a perfect combination of flavours and textures. Pork and apple go so well together that I also use them in my spiced sausage roll, a useful recipe for a casual lunch or supper, which can also be served as an appetiser with drinks. I dice apple to add to shallots and celery when I make tuna tartare. In chicken salad or a Waldorf salad, a crisp apple is an essential ingredient.

A grated apple added to scone dough with some sage and Cheddar makes a perfect cobbler topping for a pork or chicken casserole, or simply a batch of savoury scones. As for desserts, the choice is wide; apple sorbet, apple crisps, apple charlotte, taffety tart flavoured with rosewater and baked apple with mead ice cream are just some of my favourites. And with so many exotic ways of using the fruit, it is easy to forget the homely apple pie. What better way to finish a traditional Sunday lunch?

But first, a recipe I developed for one of the very first articles I wrote for the late lamented A la Carte magazine many years ago. It is, of course, based on the classic gravad lax. Lampuki responds very well to this preparation, as does amberjack and horse mackerel.

A Classic apple pie

(Serves 6)

25g unsalted butter
400g plain or sweet short crust pastry
50g ground almonds
500g apples, peeled, quartered, cored and sliced
2 cloves
50g golden granulated sugar

Butter a 25-centimetre pie plate and reserve the rest of the butter. Divide the pastry in two and roll out half of it to line the pie plate. Sprinkle the base of the pie with ground almonds to absorb the juices. Arrange the fruit on top, tuck in the cloves, dab on the remaining butter and sprinkle with sugar.

Moisten the rim of the pie base. Roll out the second piece of pastry and cover the pie with it. Seal and trim the edges. Decorate the top with pastry trimmings if you wish. Make a hole for the steam to escape and bake in a preheated oven at 200˚C, Gas 6 for 12 minutes, then turn down to 180˚C, Gas 4 for another 30 minutes or so. Serve hot, warm or cold, plain or with vanilla custard, crème fraîche, apple sorbet or vanilla ice cream.

In Yorkshire and Lancashire a piece of cheese is as common an accompaniment to apple pie as cream or custard.

Buried mackerel

(Serves 4-6)

2 medium-sized mackerel, carefully filleted with all bones removed
2 tbsp coarse sea salt
1 tbsp light muscovado sugar
2-3 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2-3 tsp crushed coriander seeds
1 tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves
4 to 6 tbsp apple juice
To serve: red and green apple slices and coriander leaves

Dressing:
6 tbsp apple juice
2 tbsp groundnut oil
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
2 tsp toasted sesame seeds

Place two of the mackerel fillets in a shallow dish, skin side down. Mix the salt, sugar, pepper, coriander seeds and leaves. Spread this over the fillets. Sprinkle on some of the apple juice and place the other two fillets on top, skin-side up. Spoon the rest of the apple juice over the fish. Cover with clear food wrap, place a weighted board on top and leave in the refrigerator for 12 to 24 hours.

To serve, cut the fish diagonally into thin slices and place on individual plates with a small salad of thin red and green apple slices, spring onions and a sprig of coriander leaves. Mix the apple juice and oils together, spoon over the apples and sprinkle toasted sesame seeds over the top.

Spiced sausage and apple roll

(Serves 4 to 6)

500g pork sausages
4 tbsp cider
2 shallots or 1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped, lightly fried
1 apple, any variety, peeled, cored and grated
1 tbsp finely chopped parsley, chives or watercress
1 tsp finely chopped sage
1 tsp ground allspice
½ tsp crushed cardamom seeds
350g puff pastry
2 to 3 tbsp grain mustard
Milk or beaten egg to glaze (optional)

Slit open the sausages and squeeze the meat into a bowl. Mix in the cider, shallots or onions, apple, herbs and spices and blend thoroughly. You may like to add some black pepper, but is unlikely that you will need to add salt.

Roll the pastry out to a rectangle, measuring about 20 centimetres by 30 centimetres and spread with the mustard. Spoon the sausage meat in the centre along the length of the pastry and brush the long edges with water. Bring the pastry edges together and press to seal. Place the roll on a greased and floured baking sheet with the join underneath. Slash with a knife point in two or three places on top to let steam escape, brush with milk or egg, if you wish, and bake for 25 to 30 minutes in a preheated oven at 190˚C. Allow to cool slightly before cutting into serving pieces.

Cook’s note: If you serve this as a main course I recommend wilted leeks, caramelised shallots or slow cooked red cabbage with it. If cold, then a crisp apple, celery and walnut salad will do. And to drink with it? Cider, of course.

You can find more of Lea Hogg’s recipes on her blog www.goodfoodeveryday.wordpress.com and live every afternoon during Lifestyle & Co on TVM2.