October and November taste of pumpkin and plums. During the rest of the year we hardly eat pumpkin. Occasionally I buy a butternut pumpkin when I would like to eat some pumpkin soup. Thanks to Halloween and jack-o'lanterns, pumpkin salads, pancakes, muffins, tarts and soups reign in my autumn kitchen.

I remember sweet pumpkin soup cooked with milk from my childhood. I honestly don't like it. In my home I prepare spicy pumpkin soup with coconut milk. This time I prepared pumpkin soup with tomatoes and orange juice. My soup was really spicy. My lesson for today is: always check how spicy your chili pepper is before you add it to your meal 

Ingredients (for 4 people)
half a pumpkin (about 2.5kg before peeling)
1 tin of tomatoes
1 chili pepper
2 cloves of garlic
1 small onion
1 tablespoon of butter
juice from one orange
1l of vegetable stock
150ml of sweet cream (optional)

For a long time I haven't made fried pies or pancakes. Now is the time to catch up. I started the pancake season with a very autumnal dish. I recommend pancakes with chestnut flour, figs and goat cheese. I added walnuts and a bit of date syrup. Serve this dish to your family for autumn weekend breakfast. You will chase off the autumn blues.

I learnt how to make the original dish in France some years ago. The pancakes were made only with chestnut flour, water and salt. They were big, similar to crepes, fried almost without fat and served with spicy cottage cheese. My pancakes were smaller and thicker, but the slightly smoky caramel flavour is almost the same.

Ingredients:
200g of chestnut flour
150ml of water
150ml of milk
1 tablespoon of potato flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
2 tablespoons of maple syrup
½ teaspoon of cinnamon
for serving: goat cheese, figs, walnuts, date syrup

Recently, in a friendly market, I found a nice little courgette. I haven't seen them before. It is strange because every kind of courgette in the autumn and winter season is my favourite vegetable. Before I could decide what to do with the little courgettes, I already had some of them in my bag. It seemed to me the courgettes should stay whole, so as to fully enjoy their interesting shape. I decided to prepare the courgettes as simply as possible. I roasted them in a fragrant, spicy tomato sauce with smoked bacon. The grated mozzarella cheese was the finishing touch to my excellent dish. You can prepare a vegetarian version of this meal – just don't add the smoked bacon. Your dinner will also be great.

Ingredients (for 2 people)
1 tin of tomatoes
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
chili pepper
2 twigs of rosemary
2 twigs of thyme
100g of smoked bacon
8-10 small courgettes
150g of mozzarella cheese
basil leaves

I bake cheesecake only for Christmas and Easter. Until now it seems that it is a difficult and demanding cake. Today I used my mum's old recipe for the best family cheesecake. She often baked this cake. Now I know why. It is a swift cheesecake, and the taste and texture of the cake is excellent. You may add orange or lemon peel to it and decorate it with chocolate icing. I decided to make a vanilla cheesecake with fruit. It looks beautiful, and it smells and tastes great.

Ingredients:
underside
150g of oat cookies
70g of butter
cheesecake
750g of white cottage cheese for the cheesecakes
150g of butter
100g of caster sugar
125g of natural yoghurt
40g of vanilla budino (powder)
3 tablespoons of semolina
1 tablespoon of vanilla essence
fruit

We like fish, especially fresh fish just from the boat in a fish and chips shop at the Polish seaside. Unfortunately, the holiday doesn't last the whole year, so we prepare fish dishes in our kitchen. The salmon is our favourite fish. Cooked, fried, roasted or smoked – we love them all.

Today I served the fishy king of the table – fried salmon with cranberries. Because the devil is in the details, I served it with pearl barley, kale and roasted sunflower seeds. It seems ordinary, but a little bit different. It was yummy and healthy. I recommend it!

Ingredients (for 2 people)
salmon
2 pieces of salmon
salt and pepper
your favourite herbs for fish
1 tablespoon of clarified butter
cranberries
2 fistfuls of fresh cranberries
4 tablespoons of maple syrup
2 tablespoons of orange peel
50 ml of orange juice
1 twig of rosemary
pearl barley
100g of pearl barley
2 big fistfuls of kale
4 tablespoons of sunflower seeds
2 tablespoons of butter
2 cloves of garlic
salt and pepper