COOKING BY NUMBERS

No matter how many guests you’re serving, you’ll find plenty of special ideas in this issue and on bbcgoodfood.com. But for a quick guide to Christmas centrepieces, try these ideas:

For 1 A whole partridge or poussin, duck leg or breast (see page 66), fillet steak or roasted aubergine are all single-serving mains that can easily be scaled up to serve as many as you need.

For 2-3 A pheasant, guineafowl, rack of lamb, côte de boeuf, turkey leg or stuffed squash will serve two or three people.

For 4-5 A whole chicken or duck, turkey crown, shoulder of lamb, four-boned rack of pork or whole roasted cauliflower work well.

For 6-7 A large chicken (capon), goose, leg of lamb, whole fillet of beef, saddle of venison or three-nut roast serves more.