Thursday 17 December 2020
With a week to go until Christmas descends, the time is nigh to get your Christmas menu sorted. It's not just about Christmas Day itself, there's Christmas Eve dinner, Boxing Day and all the snacks and Christmas baking to consider too. As we all know, this is a Christmas like no other and we are not going to be having the 20 person festivities some might be used to. So what do you cook for a Christmas of two, four, or six people?
Firstly, think of it as a chance to experiment with new recipes. A turkey crown instead of a whole turkey is an excellent place to start for a smaller Christmas dinner, or Donna Hay's poached turkey breast, but you could also leave the bird out altogether this year and opt for something else as the showstopper. Consider Mary Berry's beef wellington recipe; it's suitably impressive, not something you're likely to eat everyday and the recipe can be scaled down easily to accommodate a smaller party. Braised beef shanks with spices and wine is another delight to consider, as it will fill the kitchen with mulled wine-adjacent smells and be tender and delicious on the plate. A side of perfectly creamy mash and some green veg is enough to finish it off. Any leftovers can be broken down into a ragu to fold through pasta on Boxing Day.