AUTUMN is the most appetising season of them all, says Tony Beales, managing director of the Italian Villa and Beales Gourmet based at Compton Acres in Poole.

Here is one of his favourite recipes to celebrate the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness.

RECIPE:

Duck Liver Parfait with brioche toast, fig & star anise chutney, apple foam

Serves 6 people

Ingredients

• 300g butter, softened

• olive oil

• 2 shallots, peeled and finely chopped

• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped

• 400g Fresh duck livers, trimmed

• 1 tsp. chopped sage & fresh thyme

• 1 small wine glass of Armagnac (or quality brandy)

• 1 pinch sea salt

• 1 pinch freshly ground black pepper

• Brioche

• 1 Tbsp. Fig & star anise chutney

• Apple foam

• 1 tsp crushed pink peppercorns

Method

Preheat the oven to 110ºC/225ºF/gas Mark 4. Put half the butter in an ovenproof saucepan and pop it in the oven to slowly melt until it has separated – this will take about 10 minutes. Strain the yellow clarified butter into a separate bowl and set aside to cool. Discard the remaining milky-coloured butter.

Prepare the livers by removing the sinew. Leave whole.

Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan. Slowly fry the shallots and garlic for 10 minutes, until soft and tender, then remove to a plate. Wipe the pan clean with some kitchen roll, turn up the heat then throw in the livers with the sage and fresh thyme. Cook the livers for a couple of minutes on each side, until lightly coloured but still a little pink in the middle – if you overcook them they will lose their smooth texture and become grainy.

Pour in the Armagnac. If you're using a gas hob, you can flame it until the alcohol cooks off, but watch your hair!

Simmer for a minute or so, then take the livers off the heat and tip them into a food processor with the cooked shallots and garlic. Blitz until you have a smooth texture. Add the softened butter and continue to blitz (save a little for the topping), then season well. Transfer the mixture to parfait moulds or ramekins.

Sprinkle the crushed pink peppercorns over the parfait then spoon over the remaining clarified butter. Leave the parfait to set in the fridge for 1 hour. It will taste beautiful straight away, but it's even better if the flavours are left to develop for a couple of days.

To serve

Toast the brioche, spoon on fig & star anise chutney, squirt on the apple foam and decorate with micro rocket, easy! For more information, visit bealesgourmet.com

COLUMN by Tony Beales, managing director of Beales Gourmet.

Autumn is often associated as a doom and gloom season - as the air gets colder, the days get shorter and people are plagued with that “back to school” feeling.

However, autumn is my favourite season! From the crisp-crunch when treading on fallen leaves, beautiful late blooming flowers such as Dahlias and Camellias, to wrapping up in your favourite jumper and taking a stroll through the New Forest’s enchanting canopy of red and gold foliage -there’s plenty to enjoy!

For chefs, the fall also brings a plethora of delicious ingredients to create seasonally scrumptious dishes. Based in the beautiful grounds of Compton Acres, we are fortunate enough to have fresh figs growing outside our offices. These wonderfully striking fruits are one of the highlights of the autumnal table and can be used to create many flavoursome dishes; such as our current recipe of the month which you will see on the adjacent page.

Autumn is also the season for a variety of other tasty foods, including wild mushrooms, apples, blackberries, chestnuts, sloes, parsnips and pumpkins all coming into season. Now and over the next couple of months our chefs are extremely busy creating gastronomical delights which will truly make the most of this seasons culinary offerings. Recently, we were very proud to sponsor and cater for the Dorset Food and Drink Awards at Lulworth Castle where our fantastic chefs created a delicious “Best of Dorset” menu which featured several autumnal appetisers. This event was a fantastic evening and we like to think our dishes showcased the true palatability of the season.

Here’s wishing everyone an awesome autumn!