Nigel Slater's Recipes for Baked Eggplant with White Beans and Thyme, and Banana Brioche Pudding

There has been a slight change of stage in the kitchen. Jars of beans are lowered from the top shelf to cook with eggplant and onions; the oven is back on (although less often than last fall) and what I cook is as much to warm up a chilly evening as it is for the love of cooking. There was also a hot pudding show: fall fruit crumbles and crisps; a real apple pie with a shortcrust pastry crust shiny with sugar and the first bread and butter pudding of the season.

If I only had right to a single season in the kitchen would be this. Every meal still has fruits and vegetables at its heart, but there's a substantiality to dinners that's missing in the summer. We are a long way from the lentil pies and steamed molasses puddings, but also from the “heavy salads” that have kept me busy for a few months. The deep autumn - the mounds of dried leaves, the occasional rainy days, the smell of bonfires in the gardens - brings with it a craving for a few extra carbs, be it beans, rice or bread.< /p>

I cooked eggplant this week. A long and slow cooking, the flesh rich in olive oil and as soft as a silk scarf. To the baking dish came fatty, floury beans, thyme, and masses of sweet onions. While the oven was on, I also baked a pudding, a version of bread and butter pudding made with brioche and bananas. A light, simmering custard with crumbled sweet bread and – too rare in my kitchen – cooked bananas. And I know it sounds too good, but the pudding is wonderful with a little cream, poured at the table.

Baked eggplant with white beans and thyme

I prefer bottled variety beans for this recipe - they are more expensive than dried, but you save the cost of cooking them - but you can use canned beans if you prefer. Including canning or bottling liquid juices is essential. Serves 3

aubergines 3 medium olive oil 125 ml onions 3 medium garlic 4 sprigs cloves 8 rosemary leaves 1 C. or butter beans 1 jar of 500 g or 2 cans of 400 g

Cut the aubergines in half lengthwise. Score them, trellis style, on their cut sides. Heat the olive oil in a large shallow skillet and place the eggplant, cut side down, in the skillet. Over low heat, lightly brown the aubergines then remove them from the pan. (You may need to do this in batches, depending on the size of your eggplants and your pan.)

Set the oven to 200C/gas 6. During eggplants brown, peel the onions, cut them in half from root to tip and then into thick wedges. Peel and finely chop the garlic. Return the pan to the heat, add a little oil, then the onions and garlic, sprigs of thyme, rosemary and bay leaves. Let the onions cook for 12 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they are soft and show a little golden color around the edges.

Pour in the sherry and broth, season with salt and black pepper and simmer for a minute or two, then place in the oven and let stand for 45 minutes or until the eggplants are almost tender and the onions golden. Gently lift the eggplants, add the beans and their bottling liquid, and stir to combine with the onions and aromatics. Substitute the aubergines and return to the oven for 20 minutes until warm, soft and fragrant.

Banana Brioche Pudding