A little bit back we had a thread about people spending Christmas on their own. I am happy to be doing this. I am just not sure what to do for my meal. I like good food and am happy cooking but don’t want to spend the day in the kitchen. My tentative plan is to go out for a run or out on the bike in the morning then lunchtime walk with the dog before eating. So any suggestions? To give some idea we are planning a nice homemade beef Wellington for New Year when my wife will be back.

Be as naughty with the meal as you want to be.

That’s not a problem, just looking for some inspiration.

My favourite simple but special meal is the best pork chops you can find, simply fried and served with a simple stew of butterbeans (those big Spanish white beans are even better), borlotti beans and haricot beans. 45 minutes tops from start to finish. A decent white Rioja to go with it and you’re all set.

If I was by myself I’d get the biggest fillet steak and eat with homemade twice cooked chips and a barrow full of mushrooms. No seasoning other than salt, pepper and a dash of vinegar.

Then eat cheese and port until I was violently sick.

Roast for one is a waste of time & effort imo.

+1 for a nice steak & chips, but I would add a bearnaise sauce.

OR go to the pub.

Smoked paprika sausage & red pepper casserole? Plonk in the oven before dog walk,few beers when back and then just have a few servings throughout day?

Do a massaman curry. Easy peasy and can be left to cook while you exercise fido. Eat with sticky rice done in the microwave.

Or a pot noodle.

You don’t say what you like but if it were me some kind of simple meat (steak, chops, something like that) sauté or fried potatoes and french beans. Full of flavour and lacking in faff.

Some good ideas there. Definitely tend towards the red meat end of the spectrum. Might go with a simple good well hung steak. Might even do some veg, despite being West of Scotland. And maybe a wee zabaglione after. Haven’t made that for ages.

There is a Jamie Oliver recipe for venison loin with a bunch of good stuff, not that time consuming, will go for one with left overs in his at home book and online. Very excellent

Leg of lamb in a casserole dish sitting on whole peeled carrots add 1/2 a bottle of red wine, a few shallots, garlic, chilli flakes and beans of your choice leave to cook slowly. Eat and drink the rest of the wine. Enjoy your day. Cheers 1 shed.

Mmmmmm venison (or steak). Yeah, do that, followed by cheesecake (Waitrose do some nice ones, if you don’t want to make it yourself).

Pasta makes a nice accompaniment to steak, if you don’t want to do chips.

I’m looking at throwing something in the slow cooker, less faff and washing.

Go to your local pub, get invited to Christmas dinner, enjoy someone else’s cooking.

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/game-recipes/pan-roasted-venison-with-creamy-baked-potato-celeriac/#qtyFLMlXJI87ieiJ.97 For the above suggestion

Roast for one is a waste of time & effort imo.

A roast requires very little effort regardless how many or few people you’re cooking for. Potentially a lot of washing up, but theres very little involved other wise. Cooking for few people means you can just prepare everything in order, bunging it in the oven as you go.

If you look up Jamie Oliver xmas recipes theres a nice roast veg platter, 4 different veg roasted together in different flavours, that plus pots roasted in red wine vinegar and a meat lump of your choice does the trick

Duck is a good roast for one. I’m usually catering for vegetarians at xmas so cook a nice veggie main event, the stuff above and a duck for me. The flavours in the veg are sharp enough not to have to do any backflips with the duck, just roasted fairly plainly with a gravy made from the juices and red current jelly.

Lamb, veg, wine, stock & slow cooker.
Get driven mad with hunger all day by the smell so head out on bike for a few hours to avoid this.

Pheasant or Guinea Fowl, roasted in a bath of red wine.

Im doing a BBQ. Just because I love BBQ’s 🙂 People also think your mad. Which is another plus point.