I like to watch fireworks outdoors in the cold autumn air, where I can see and smell the spectacle of neighbours’ rockets and fountains exploding in the midnight sky. My own celebrations will be crowned by a sweet and spicy supper: sausages that will be cooked long and slow, then tossed with maple syrup.

Bravery and a close eye on the progress of the sausages will be rewarded as their skins turn a rich, burnished mahogany and take on a glossy, deeply savoury note. They will be turned regularly in the pan until just the right side of burnt and will come with potato cakes, soft and floury, spiked with the sourness of kimchi and the warmth of gochujang. A side dish for the sausages, but also substantial enough to serve as principal course.

Watching the spluttering and banging outside, we will probably want something warm to hold – a glass of mulled wine perhaps or even better, a spot of hot, spiced apple juice. (You could add a drop of brandy if that’s your thing.) This year, I shall be passing round a plate of crumbly cheese biscuits, too.

Sausages and kimchi potato cakes

The spicy quality of the cakes probably means that a mild sausage will be more suitable than one bulging with garlic and chilli. My favourites are those with plenty of coarsely minced meat and a generous addition of herbs. In this instance, a breakfast sausage rather than merguez or Toulouse. Serves 4. Ready in 1 hour

potatoes 350g
kimchi 100g
gochujang 1-2 tsp
coriander leaves 10g
parsley leaves 10g
flour 1 heaped tbsp, plus more for rolling
groundnut oil 2 tbsp, for frying
plump sausages 8, mild and plump
maple syrup 2 tbsp

Put a deep pan of water on to boil, place a steamer basket or colander on top. Peel the potatoes and cut them into large chunks, as you might for roast potatoes, then put them in the steamer basket, cover tightly with a lid, and steam for 15-20 minutes. Test the potatoes for tenderness. Remove them from the heat and leave for a few minutes until they have stopped steaming. Mash until quite smooth using a food mixer or a potato masher (but not a food processor, which will turn them to glue).

Finely chop the kimchi and stir in with the gochujang. Remove the coriander leaves from the stems and add to the mash with the flour. Do the same with the parsley. (You are unlikely to need pepper or salt.) Flour your hands very thoroughly, then take a small scoop of the mixture (about 50g) and pat gently into a little cake. Lay it on a floured baking sheet or plate, re-flour your hands and repeat until the mixture is finished. You will have about 8 cakes.

Chill the cakes in the fridge for 30 minutes. Please don’t miss this step, because the cakes are fragile and will otherwise collapse when you cook them. Warm a ½cm depth of the groundnut oil in a frying pan, then carefully lift the cakes, 4 at a time, and fry for a minute or two over a moderately high heat until crisp on the bottom. Don’t move them (or poke or prod them) until the underside is crisp. Now carefully flip the cakes over and cook the other side.

As soon as the cakes are golden, lift them out with a palette knife and rest on a plate to keep warm while you cook the rest. I like to use fresh oil for each batch. Serve the cakes as soon as they are all done, perhaps with a little more of the kimchi on top.

While the kimchi cakes cook, put the sausages in a frying pan with some more oil and let them cook over a moderate heat, until done to your liking. Move the sausages around the pan with kitchen tongs, so they cook evenly. Pour the maple syrup into the pan and roll the sausages around in it, until the syrup and pan juices start to bubble. Serve with the kimchi cakes.

Spiced apple juice and chilli cheese biscuits

Hot, gently spiced apple juice for a cold night. Enough for 8. Ready in 1 hour

For the cheese biscuits:
plain flour 150g
butter 125g
parmesan cheese 75g, finely grated
Aleppo pepper a pinch
egg yolk 1

For the apple juice:
cloudy apple juice 1 litre
cinnamon stick 1
star anise 3
cardamom pods 6
apples 2
honey to taste

Put the flour in a mixing bowl. Cut the butter into small cubes, then rub into the flour with your thumbs and fingertips (or reduce to crumbs in a food processor). Stir in the grated parmesan and the Aleppo pepper and pinch of salt. Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4.

Beat the egg yolk with a fork, just to break it up, then mix into the crumbs. Bring the ingredients together with your hands and make a ball of dough. Turn it out on to a lightly floured board. Cut the dough in half and roll into two cylinders, roughly the diameter of a £2 coin. Cut each cylinder into about 10 thick ‘coins’ and place them on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment. Bake for about 10 minutes until golden, then remove from the oven, leave to cool for 10 minutes before lifting carefully from the tray with a palette knife.

Pour the apple juice into a non-reactive saucepan (enamelled cast iron or stainless steel), then place over a low to moderate heat. Break the cinnamon stick in two and drop both halves into the juice along with the star anise and the cardamom pods (lightly crack them with a heavy weight first).

Halve the apples and remove the cores. Slice thinly and add to the juice. The apples will soften quickly in the hot liquid. Taste for sweetness, adding a little honey or sugar as you wish.

This non-alcoholic version can be pepped up with cider instead of the apple juice. The juice can also be spiked with 100ml of calvados (do this in small amounts, tasting a little as you go) or brandy.

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