Please help with a small but nice menu (2 people only)

[FridaRose]

Hi, unfortunately DH and I cannot see family this Xmas (due to numerous circumstances).

What can we cook on Xmas day (and days before/after) just for the two of us? Obvs can't do massive turkey. Chicken then? I think I should do only few side dishes, but which ones?

Im also pregnant so can't really do seafood or alcohol. Cheese is limited too

Please help us with your ideas, I'm absolutely gutted about not seeing our family so need to have a good menu so we can have a lovely day just the two of us.

Thank you!

It was just the two of us last year (may be the same this year as well, don't know yet) and it was actually quite lovely. I am vegetarian while my husband is not so I had mushroom stuffed with cheese, herbs and nuts while he had venison. We went pretty all out on the sides, with honey and mustard carrots, amazing brown butter brussel sprouts, roast potatoes with lemon and rosemary and mixed grilled mediterranean veggies. We didn't have rom for budding but had bought an F&M Christmas pudding with brandy butter, which was consumed the next day. Oh, and those party packs you get on Ocado with yummy little mini-tarts with a glass or two of champagne for opening presents on a video call with parents. It was quite lovely.

If you like a full Christmas dinner then do that. We always have the full works for the two of us, it wouldn't occur to me not to. 🤷🏻‍♀️

We've ordered from Noble House Prepared this year as I'm fed up of slaving for hours over a hot oven every Xmas just for 2 of us (yes DH does help before anyone asks!). They have options of turkey, fillet of beef, veggie or vegan menus for two. Hoping its going to be nice!!

Last year we were in tier 4. We cut each other’s hair and then had turkey with all the trimmings.

You can eat most fish and seafood when pregnant:
www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/keeping-well/foods-to-avoid/

One the nicest Christmas meals for 2 I have done was a Nigel Slater recipe; whole duck roasted directly on top of a dish of lemony sliced potatoes. Sides of sprouts and braised red cabbage would be lovely.
I love his recipe also for lemon surprise pudding after a Christmas meal.

DD1 was due about Christmas so we had Christmas on our own that year. We ate partridge (a partridge serves one person so we had one each) with all the trimmings (easy to cut down the quantities) and because I wasn't sure if I'd be in hospital or not I premade soup and froze it and obviously I made the pudding and cake months before. Was the first Christmas meal I ever made myself, this year I'm cooking for 12. Enjoy the couple time, this will be the most relaxing Christmas you have for decades.

Turkey crown, sage and onion stuffing, pigs in blankets, roast potatoes and carrots together, ready made braised red cabbage and buy a few sprouts with lashings of gravy!

Dessert of choice

Cornish cruncher cheddar, oatcakes and quince jelly.

Hubby and I spent most of our Xmas alone over the last 14. We have always done a full Christmas Day with every single trimming. It's still Christmas and if you want to full festive stuff why should you not because there aren't a whole load of you?

You're still humans who want to celebrate so so it and enjoy! We one dc now so we get a 7ft tree now too haha

My menu would be fillet steak with dauphinoise potatoes, sticky red cabbage and Brussels sprouts cooked in an Alfredo sauce.

How about a charcuterie board to pick at on boxing Day. Buy the best quality food you can afford and a few new things to try.

Make cocktails.

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/festive-red-cabbage?amp=

pin.it/7JqAxpG

There are only 2 of us & Guinea Fowl is one of our go to treats for a roast with very little waste.
You won't really have any leftovers & it tastes (to me) like the nicest chicken you ever had - very similar but with more taste if that makes sense.
You can have all the trimmings as you don't have to cook masses of them, just do enough for you both.

I love Beef Wellington too, but it's hard to find places that do smaller portions of it (they all seem to serve 10 or something) & a lot of faff to make yourself.

We had Venison rump steaks with chocolate butter last year as well (you can get it from Waitrose) which always seem a bit special to me.

I can't eat any of those without longing for sorbet afterwards before having a dessert, cheese & crackers or a small fancy box of marzipan/petit fours/Napolitains (whichever you prefer) to round the meal off with a cup of coffee.

We've done the big turkey op but we eat turkey again on boxing day and I made tonnes of curry for the freezer.

But something like stuffed turkey breast veg and garlic potatoes would be lovely.

Or salmon is always nice

Last year there was just DH and
me for Christmas lunch and we just had what we would normally eat - Turkey for him (I bought a small crown), veggie roast for me, and the usual veg, cranberry sauce, stuffing , PIB etc. Our favourite meal is the Boxing Day fry up of leftover veg. And DH likes cold Turkey and pickles . In fact this year we will be eating Christmas lunch out but I'll still be cooking the Turkey roast an alternate day so we can have the leftovers!

For starters maybe smoked salmon blini with cream cheese or wild mushroom pate on sourdough toast.

For the main I'd roast a really nice organic free range chicken with garlic and rosemary roast potatoes, pigs in blankets, roast carrots with honey and sage, parsnips with sesame or cumin, steamed broccoli if you don;t like sprouts.

Pudding - do your favourite. I love Christmas pudding but also make ginger sticky toffee pud for DC, a chocolate and raspberry roulade for DF-i-L and a tiramisu or trifle for DH.

But I love trad Christmas food, Not sure if that's what you're after.

Look at the M&S Christmas range, good selection of Goose, Turkey, Lamb, Beef short ribs etc as well as sides/puddings.

What do you love? I'd like duck, lamb or beef rather than the usual if it was just the 2 of us, but always have Xmas pud as I love it and ight let myself have it at Christmas to keep it special. I would probably go shopping somewhere more expensive than I usually go (for me, it would be M & S) and get lots of nice bits/ snacks and plan the food for for 3 days!!

I am doing Christmas lunch for the first time ever, for 10 people, and I am doing:
Filet mignon of pork in sage butter (cooked at 80° so it doesn't dry out)
Mashed potato
Green beans in garlic butter
And then the star of the show (apparently)- mushrooms cooked down with onions, white wine, stock, and parmesan (obviously the alcohol evaporates, is parmesan allowed in pregnancy?)
I cooked it as a trial run the other week, and my sister described it as a party in her mouth 😆
I live abroad and am doing this for non-Brits, so can get away with going completely non-traditonal

We have beef when it’s just our small family, I prefer it to Turkey anyway

Love the great fine details mentioned, like orange gravy, Camembert and figs, Sprouts with pancetta instead of bacon.

We're big cooks and happy to cook complex/fancy dishes but because DH is Aussie he's not sure what's included in traditional British Xmas dinner, and for some reason I got stuck on just turkey, yorkies, sprouts and roasties! He's never had pigs in blankets so that'll be a revelation to him

I think you're right whoever said it doesn't matter if we overcook as well have over a week to eat it all

Oh and we can't buy anything prepared as no M&S in Aus and supermarkets are quite basic so it'll be us cooking up a storm which we quite enjoy.

DH asked twice for we really eat turkey at Xmas, as it's more of a thanksgiving meal?
I'm contemplating whether to cook turkey and change his mind, or go with something else like guinea fowl or beef Wellington.

Thank you for the red cabbage recipe @waltzingparrot - that's perfect and we will use it!

Smoked salmon is not allowed so still unsure of a starter ..

We were on our own with my 16 y.o. last year and instead of the traditional turkey I made stuffed organic chicken (no antibiotics or hormones). It was an eye opener, absolutely delicious.

Made a salad with cos lettuce, pomegranate, red onions, corn kernels, olive oil and sherry vinegar but you can go for roasted vegetables as well. We invested in a good bottle of bubbly and frankly it was one the best Christmas meals we've had. There was still a bit of chicken and stuffing left over which was delicious in crusty bread rolls the following day.

I have been known to cook a half turkey breast and a turkey thigh. DH and I have different preferences. An actual butcher should be able to provide it either just those pieces or by selling you the turkey, but cutting it up for you and you can freeze the rest for later.

How about duck? The meat is almost better the next day.

Starter : Roux salad of chicory, watercress, orange segments, walnuts with a honey and mustard vinaigrette.

Main: carefully roast a duck (or two) and serve with potato & celeriac mash, purple sprouting broccoli or kale, maybe Princess haricot green beans wrapped in prosciutto, and a bastardized cumberland sauce type gravy made from roasting juices (with fat removed) redcurrant jelly, squeezed orange, and some pre-prepared good chicken stock.

Pudding = bitter orange sorbet with cardomom biscuits

This is the first year in probably 3 years we have had DS and DGC here for Christmas dinner. Family complications and accommodations have meant we had breakfast/brunch on Christmas Day which has been nice too.

DH and I are a bit worse for the wear this year so we have ordered a boneless dark/white meat pre stuffed boneless turkey roll from an excellent butcher, along with gravy.

We will make roasties, Brussels sprouts, and sweet potatoes in keeping with Canadian tradition. But no mini marshmallows on the sweet potatoes (sorry Mom but I just can't make them taste like yours).

I will miss brining my turkey and making everything from scratch, but it is more important to be together and not too tired.

You might try a pre made turkey roll OP, and then just make the sides you like.

Merry Christmas.

I like the idea of a roast duck, but next day gravy-soaked-crusty-bread-roll sandwiches don't really go with duck? I imagined more like a white meat... or lighter game

I think leftovers can be as good as the Xmas day meal, so thinking of Boxing Day too

If you have duck, you could plan to have the leftovers Chinese style with pancakes or wraps, hoisin sauce and spring onions as a change on boxing Day.