Twelfth Night on the 6th and Burns' Night on the 25th provide occasions for partying in an otherwise gloomy month of post-holiday blues. And on the food front, January is a surprisingly rewarding time of year

It might be dark and cold outside, but our shops are brightened up by citrus fruits of every shape and size. And for just a few weeks in the middle of the month you'll find Seville oranges on display. As the nation's marmalade makers know, this is a seasonal treat to be seized as soon as you find them in the shops.

Sevilles, on the whole, are unsprayed fruit, and have a short shelf life. Fortunately, you can freeze them and have a ready supply throughout the year. It is worth doing this, even if you have no intention of making marmalade. Home-made Seville orange curd is delicious, not only on toast or scones, but in crepes, as a cake filling and simply spooned into a meringue nest for an instant dessert.

When I make curd, I simply substitute the lemon juice and zest with the sharp orange juice and zest. I've used the juice in place of lime juice in one of this month's recipes, the ceviche. You'll find that the juice has a wonderful affinity with most fish dishes, just as lemon does. You should also try it in a gin and tonic – it tastes delicious.

Not the only fruit
But these are not the only fruits to look out for. Blood oranges from Sicily are fabulous in fruit salads, and I love the juice, either on its own or in a Bucks Fizz or other cocktails.

Apart from stored apples, our only home grown fruit at this time of the year is forced rhubarb, a speciality of Yorkshire where it is grown in dark sheds near Wakefield. With shocking pink stalks and a green/blonde leaves, it brightens up a winter vegetable stall no end. Excellent in homemade sorbets and ice-creams, I also like to use it in pies and crumbles.

Fish
Flat fish is still at its best throughout the month, and I particularly recommend lemon sole and plaice as good buys. Of course, brill, turbot and Dover sole are real treats, but twice the price.

Fillets of flat fish can be simply dipped in seasoned flour and fried in olive oil, or you can fold them round a stuffing (chopped mushrooms or prawns, for example) and bake them in the oven with cream and white wine. Or lay them on a bed of spinach, spoon on a little cheese sauce and cook in the oven for 18–20 minutes.

Over the page: The pick of this month's meat

Meat
Lamb is still plentiful and relatively inexpensive because there have been no exports. I like older lamb at this time of year, getting well beyond six months old; its winter feed will have been supplemented by root vegetables and this gives the meat lots of flavour.

A rack of lamb is perfect for a Sunday roast for two, with six or seven cutlets. I buy it French-trimmed, which means the fat has been removed from the rib bones. Coat the surface with a mixture of olive oil, mustard, breadcrumbs, ground almonds and herbs – as the meat roasts (at 200C/400F/gas mark 6 for about 20 minutes for nicely pink meat), a tasty brown crust will form.

But lamb is a very versatile meat, and I probably like it best of all in casseroles, curries or a tagine, which is my choice for this month's main course recipe.

Ooh, you are offal
Don't forget to order your haggis for Burns' Night on the 25th. Purists and Scots will know exactly how to cook and serve it (read our guide to Organising a Burns Supper), but I have my own method.

Have plenty of mashed potatoes, or a mixture of potatoes and swedes or turnips, and a well-buttered ovenproof dish. Halve the haggis and scoop out the filling. Reassemble it with the mash as if for a cottage pie, and bake in a hot oven for 30-40 minutes.

Other good things to look out for
Mushrooms are always plentiful after the holidays. There may be no one at work to pick them, but the mushrooms don't stop growing. So what you will find is plenty of open mushrooms – these are excellent for a warming mushroom soup. Or chop small, fry in butter and use them as an omelette filling.

The biggest mushrooms can be stuffed and baked, or grilled and served with an egg on top. If you're picking your own, make sure you know what you're doing, as some can be extremely poisonous.

Gathering nuts
There will still be plenty of dried fruit and nuts about in January. Make a fruit and nut compote by soaking the dried fruit in tea, then poaching until soft. Add the shelled nuts, lightly toasted, and keep it in the refrigerator for a quick breakfast dish or dessert.

Finally remember that baby leeks, cavolo nero, red and white cabbage, kohl rabi and all the root vegetables, as well as celery and celeriac, are exceptionally good in winter - the frost firms them up and makes them sweet and crisp.

Over the page: Frances' January menu

Menu for January
I've started this month's menu with a ceviche, a refreshing South American dish of fish 'cooked' in citrus juice. Usually, ceviche is made with lime juice or lemon juice, but for a few short weeks in January you can give it a different twist by using the juice of tart Seville oranges.

This is followed by a Morocco-influence lamb and apricot tagine. There's so little effort in preparing this warming Arab stew, but it's great for enjoying the heat of your kitchen on a cold winter's day. Just have a good novel at hand while you wait for it to cook.

Finally, I've included a nutty fruit crumble to help you get rid of all that rhubarb in your back garden. It's a great recipe that you can adapt all year round to whatever's in season. Enjoy

Ceviche

Lamb and Apricot Tagine

Rhubarb and Walnut Crumble

Tom's wine suggestions:
The combination of chillies and Seville orange juice in the ceviche is about the unfriendly thing you can do to a wine. I'd be tempted to avoid matching a wine to this dish, and instead suggest tequila, a margarita or a Mexican beer – I particularly like the dark ones. On the other hand, I like a challenge, so would probably serve a fino – and make sure it is at least as cold as the ceviche.

Since Frances seems to have wandered all over the world for this menu, so shall I for the wines – I suggest a Chilean Merlot with the tagine.

As rhubarb and ginger are classic partners, I propose a small glass of ginger cordial with the rhubarb crumble, rather than a chilled dessert wine. It is winter, after all, and ginger cordial is one of the best winter warmers. Berry Bros do a very good one - check out www.bbr.com or call 0870 900 4300.

What foods do you look forward to in January? Are you celebrating Burns' Night? Tell Frances and Tom about it on the All About Food & Drink message board.