Christmas lunch with no oven...

[penguinwithasuitcase]

DP and I live separately, and while last year we had Christmas at my house, this year he's said he and DSS would like to do it at their flat.

(it's smaller and not as comfortable as my place, but they're perfectly entitled to a Christmas at theirs so I'm keeping my trap shut )

Only thing that's niggling me is that they don't have an oven, so I'm trying to plan ahead and think about what we can do for Christmas lunch that requires only a stovetop....?

Any ideas?

Surely it would be helpful to know where you live, as most countries I assume don't do the traditional (to England) turkey roast and pigs in blankets.

I'd do a slow cooked stew or casserole. That's what we will be having at my uncle's at Christmas. He has an oven, just doesn't want the fuss or stress of a roast on Christmas day.

However, a fantastic feast can come in many forms. A lovely casserole of venison in red wine, anything!
Absolutely this, nothing particularly special about a roast.

I love a roast chicken at christmas. I hate turkey😁.

I digress

@penguinwithasuitcase

It was my Korean friend who suggested a benchtop airfryer/oven when I found myself ovenless for a stretch. Traditional Asian cooking is stovetop based. Lots of Koreans have taste for western food, but Seoul apartments don't have room for a traditional oven, so that's where they took off. If you have a good oven an airfryer's probably a gimmick, but without an oven they expand your kitchen hugely. If your DP wants one he should definitely splash out.

Your location would make a difference to any suggestions I would make - if you’re in midsummer at Christmas where you are I might suggest a chicken done in a kettle barbecue, or a much lighter meal of fish and vegetables. And not Christmas pudding!

Don’t be too chippy, OP. If you actually want help, it’s really in your interests to set the parameters too.

I would do a pot roast brisket in a Dutch oven on the hob. Lots of lovely buttery mash, red cabbage, some glazed carrots and of course sprouts. It wouldn't be Christmas without them ;)

Can't believe some of the comments on this thread. The OP was asking a specific question on what could be cooked without an oven, the reason there isn't an oven is irrelevant.

OP, if one of you has a slow cooker then you could certainly do a ham in that. I personally am in the Southern Hemisphere and am quite partial to cooking Xmas dinner on our covered gas BBQ. Last year we didn't want to do the whole big roast turkey fuss so we did turkey mignons wrapped in bacon on the BBQ.

@Grayskelly that's exciting –we'll take a look today

@MsAgnesDiPesto I get it, I do. But if my location were something that PPs wanted to know about to tailor their suggestions, they were most welcome to ask –it would have been far more effective (and polite, dare I say it) than pointed digs about whether my DP had a (good) reason to be raising his son without an oven, which really has nothing to do with anything.

@violetbunny a BBQ would be great fun! We have one in the garden but I don't think it's been used in years... might get DP to have a look and see if it can be resurrected....

Definitely would consider the air fryer route. Mine fits a whole chicken in it. I thought it would be a flash in the pan but we use it multiple times a day. My big oven is rarely on now. It has to be more energy efficient!

Having a nice simple Christmas in a flat with people who love each other and are all mucking in sounds wonderful and relaxing.

Can anyone recommend an air fryer? My big oven has died and my small oven is OK but often makes a dreadful noise as it cools after use. I am steeling myself to look into buying a replacement but as it's a range style it means a new hob as well, which is irksome, as there's nothing wrong with the hob. After reading these recommendations I'm wondering if maybe we could get by for a bit with an air fryer. How much room do they take up compared with a microwave?

(Sorry for derail, OP.)

Re OP's point - rather depends on the weather. Stews and roasts are not what I want to eat if it's very hot outside. If it's cold, though, a stovetop stew cooked very slowly on the hob, or one well-made in a slow cooker, could be just the ticket.

Thanks @TeeBee I think I needed to hear that last sentence of your post more than I'd realised. Brought a bit of a lump to my throat.

Can I ask which air fryer you have that fits a whole chicken?

And it's no derail, @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g –I have the same question!

Many of my extended family do not have / use an oven, and a special holiday feast meal will consist of a carefully planned range of vegetable curries served in a particular order (I can’t remember if it is red to green or the other way) and eaten from a banana leaf. Really beautiful food.

Or a spatchcocked bird can be cooked in a covered BBQ, a rack of ribs over a slow charcoal grill…

I wouldn’t do a prime beef roast to serve nice and pink or Yorkshire puddings without an oven, but who knows, maybe there is a way!

OP, I'm scaling my Christmas right back this year as I'm so over the hype. I realised I just want to spend my time with the three people I love most in the world, my two kids and my partner. I could have a sandwich with them and have an awesome day. When you have the right people around you, not a lot else matters really.

I have a Instant Vortex. It's brilliant. Does cakes, whole joints of meat, the roast potatoes are awesome. Could be a fun challenge to try to cook your whole meal in there 😄

We have a tower airfryer. Very much NOT top of the range, more cheap and cheerful. Cooks amazing roasties, mini pizza .. chips… you Name it.

We also have a fancy schmantzy slow cooker. I can roast meat in it then do stock afterwards.

Have hardly used the oven since we got them.

@TeeBee and @penguinwithasuitcase I was going to say the vortex too! It comes with a rotisserie.

Assuming you have no dietary requirements:

Can you do an instant pot (which can slow cook) or a slow cooker? Instant pot definitely has quicker recipes, so less time cooking. You can do your meat, veg and everything else in an instant pot, then gravy on the stovetop. Plus it's portable so doesn't have to stay at his flat. Also, air fryers can make lovely potatoes and veg if you really want to buy multiple appliances.

In a slow cooker you can do red wine beef with veg! Which is quite a lot of the meal sorted.

Without buying any additional appliances you could definitely grill or fry some kind of meat - chicken maybe?, then steam or boil your veg. Then fry off the potatoes to make them crispy.

Not sure why posters are so incredulous about not using the oven, ours doesn't get much use. If ours ever goes wrong, we wouldn't be in a huge hurry to replace it.

I would suggest having your favourite meal ... whatever that is. Sauté potatoes, steak and tiger prawns would be my first thought, but an extravagant paella with soft shell crab and octopus also would make me smile. If the tradition where you are is adaptable for the hob that is also an obvious route.

You can make roast potatoes in the slow cooker. I can't link but if you Google it, loads of instructions come up. I think the trick is to wrap a tea towel around the lid to soak up the condensation and stop the potatoes going soggy

Us too! We are doing beef in a slow cooker. The only thing we can’t do is roast potatoes.

I should say we do technically have an oven but it’s worse than terrible (waiting for a new kitchen) and cooking meat in it would be dangerous because it doesn’t seem to get up to or maintain temperature properly. We changed the thermostat in our previous oven put not luck with this one.

Now I’ve caught up on the thread.
I used to live in Asia. No oven. Two ring hob and microwave.
We bought a table top oven that would just about fit a chicken and roast potatoes and then used a steamer for vegetables. We also BBQd a lot (eg sprouts). But for Christmas Day we usually went out (bottomless champagne brunch, no bloody turkey), expensive but worth it.

For future reference OP I have a combi microwave/oven and though it's not brilliant, you can bake stuff in it (just be prepared to adjust temps and times).

@HerbErtlinger

You can make roast potatoes in the slow cooker. I can't link but if you Google it, loads of instructions come up. I think the trick is to wrap a tea towel around the lid to soak up the condensation and stop the potatoes going soggy

HA!

If we decide to try that I'm going to suggest a practice run the week before...

Air fryers, slow cookers, Dutch ovens, BBQs... who knew?

I'm tempted to put DP on the barbecue and me and DSS in the kitchen with an air fryer and have an "alternative Christmas lunch cooking" competition

Wowsers some seriously batshit issues being projected.

@penguinwithasuitcase if you have an electric slow cooker then you can pretty much make anything! I love a good joint of beef done in it (rest on halved onions or cheap spuds so it doesn't go soggy), you can roast a chicken in one.

If you have an oven maybe pre roast the spuds and just warm up at his...does either of you have a halogen oven or an air fryer? They can be good

I guess a lot depends on your preferences for dinner.

Risotto, paella, bolognase, curry etc can all be done just on a stove.

Lasagne can be done in a slow cooker