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As an autumn chill spikes the air, it's time to step away from the BBQ and head inside. Here is a flavourful fall dinner for those who like a challenge in the kitchen. WARM SAUTEED PEPPER

AND TOMATO SALAD

Serve with anchovy bread;

Slice ½ a baguette in half-inch slices to the base, but not through. Mix together ¼ cup melted butter, one tablespoon anchovy paste. Brush onto slices and over loaf. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until crisp.

What you need

1 dried ancho chili pepper

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 red pepper, thinly sliced

1 yellow pepper, thinly sliced

2 banana peppers, thinly sliced

2 heaping tablespoons thinly sliced garlic cloves

1 cup seeded, sliced tomatoes

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Salt and freshly ground pepper

What you do

Soak chili pepper in warm water for 20 minutes. Pat dry, remove seeds and thinly slice.

Heat olive oil in a skillet over low heat. Add ancho chili, red, yellow and banana peppers and sauté for 20 minutes or until softened. Add garlic and tomatoes and cook another 10 minutes or until flavours come together. Add balsamic vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and pile onto a serving dish.

ROASTED SALMON

WITH CREAMY ENDIVES

French Comte cheese is a melting cheese with a nutty, almost caramelized, taste. Substitute gruyere if necessary.

What you need

Four 6-oz (175-g) salmon filets, skin on

1 tablespoon olive oil

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 teaspoon chopped thyme

2 tablespoons butter

4 Belgian endives, sliced lengthwise into quarters

½ teaspoon sugar

¼ cup white wine

½ cup chicken stock

¾ cup whipping cream

½ cup grated French Comte cheese or gruyere

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

What you do

Preheat oven to 450 F.

Rub salmon with olive oil and season with salt, pepper and thyme.

Heat butter in an oven-proof skillet over medium heat. Add endive and sprinkle with sugar. Cook on each side until lightly browned, about 4 minutes.

Top with salmon, place skillet in the oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until white juices begin to appear and salmon is just cooked through. Move salmon and endives to a serving dish and keep warm.

Add wine to pan and bring to boil. Boil until wine is reduced to 2 tablespoons, scraping any bits from base of pan. Add stock and reduce by half. Add cream and boil until slightly thickened. Remove skillet from heat and stir in cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Pour sauce over salmon and endive and sprinkle with parsley. Serves 4.

GRAPE TART

Concord grapes make a distinctive tart, but any good, juicy grape can be substituted. We tested this with blue-black coronation grapes. Squeezing seeds out can be tedious, but it makes a great filling. (Seedless grapes were deadly dull.)

We found that the minute tapioca did not completely dissolve on top of the tart. Substitute tapioca flour if available or pulse it in a food processor to grind it up slightly.What you need

Pastry

1½ cups flour

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup butter

3 tablespoons cold water

1½ teaspoons vinegar

Grape Filling

2 pounds grapes (about 6 cups)

3 tablespoons minute tapioca

1 teaspoon grated orange rind

½ cup granulated sugar

3 tablespoons grape or red currant jelly, melted

What you do

Add flour, salt and butter to a food processor. Pulse together until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add water and vinegar and pulse briefly, but do not allow dough to form into a ball. Transfer to a bowl and knead together by hand. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed.

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Roll out half of pastry to a 12-inch circle to fit a 9-inch loose bottom fluted tart pan or pie plate. Reserve dough trimmings to make a decorative leaf for top of tart. Prick bottom with a fork, line with tin foil and pie weights and bake for 15 minutes or until pastry is opaque. Remove weights and bake 5 minutes longer.

To remove seeds from grapes, squeeze individual grapes, reserving skins and pulp separately. Press pulp through a sieve to remove seeds. Combine sieved pulp with grape skins, add tapioca, orange rind and sugar and let stand for 15 minutes.

Pour filling into pie shell.

Roll out extra pastry dough to make a grape motif or other decoration for top of tart. Place motif on a baking sheet and bake beside the pie for 25 minutes or until golden.

Place pie on lower third of oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until grape juice is bubbling. The filling will firm up as it cools. Brush tart with melted grape jelly and place motif on top. Cool. Serves 6 to 8.

lwaverman@globeandmail.com