ONCE September has been and gone most people will have packed away their barbecue, stashed their skewers and put the marinade on hold for at least another eight months – and on the whole, I would agree with them.

There is one date, however, on which it is still a good idea to cook up some delicious meat and eat it outside – and that is November 5, Bonfire Night.

Nothing tastes quite so good as a freshly grilled sausage or two while you are standing outside in the dark, watching fireworks and drinking hot chocolate or warm cider.

Bonfire Night is next Friday, but a lot of people will be holding weekend events – giving you time to head to next weekend’s Droitwich farmers’ market and picking up the ingredients you need to make your barbecue go with a real bang.

There will be plenty of choices available whether you prefer sausages, burgers, pork, chops or chicken.

If you can plan ahead, try this spicy marinade, which goes especially well with pork.

SPICY MARINADE

Ingredients

180ml soy sauce
60ml fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon chili sauce
1 crushed garlic clove

Method

This is enough marinade for about eight pork chops. Mix all the ingredients together and coat the meat – leave in the fridge for between six and 12 hours to really get all the flavours. Bring the meat out when the coals are hot and cook for at least seven minutes on each side. Delicious.

To make sure you don’t get too cold while cooking up the food, treat yourself to a glass of warm farmers’ market cider. Heat the cider slowly, together with a couple of cinammon sticks, making sure it doesn’t boil.

Serve with a single stick in a mug (not a glass) to keep the autumn chills at bay. This works equally well with a non-alcoholic apple drink, which you can buy from a number of Worcestershire farmers’ market producers.

There are no markets this weekend, so be sure to head to Victoria Square, Droitwich, on Saturday, November 6, from 9am until 2pm. There is also a market on Sunday, November 7, in Angel Place, Worcester, from 9am until 3pm.