PIPERS FARM SIMPLEST TURKEY

Turkey is a bit of a problem for the smaller gathering.  It can be a bit of a problem all round, whatever the numbers. Big and cumbersome; the lean breast drying out as the brown meat cooks; fat splashing everywhere; one champagne cocktail too many as you juggle food and people.  How you wish it were easier! Step forward Piper's Farm with their Simplest Christmas Turkey Pack. It may not untangle family sub-plots but it sorts nearly everything else.

I'm a fan of Piper's Farm, a thoughtful company that gets high-quality meat from small family farms in Devon. Now they've turned their attention to turkey. My Simplest turkey arrived, after several snowy delays, in an enormous box padded with a blizzard of paper. Packing away the packaging was easily the most difficult part of the whole exercise. In short, it's a doddle. The 'kit' consists of a boned breast rolled around a delicious chunky and fresh apricot and hazelnut stuffing. Then there is the leg, also boned and stuffed. Finally, pork chipolatas wrapped in streaky bacon and some free-range turkey stock to make the gravy.

The instructions give you straightforward marching orders: one, two, three. Put the turkey breast and leg in one foil 'boat' and the chipolatas in another. Put them in the oven for 60 minutes (a major convenience is that up to 10 portions - they start at 4 - cooks this quickly. The 12-portion joint cooks in 80 minutes and 14-portion in 90). Let the meat rest for 15 minutes and pour the gubbins into a saucepan with the turkey stock and simmer as the meat rests. Cut slices of white and brown meat, serve with the bangers and pour over the gravy. Bish, bash, bosh, as Jamie would say.

The turkey is a free-range bronze turkey, hung for 3 weeks to give it a great flavour. The porkers and bacon are from free-range pigs. I've been to some of the Piper's Farm producers and the standards are high and everything, from feed to abattoir is genuinely local. In January they feature on the new 'Kill it, Cook it, Eat it' series on BBC4, so you can see for yourself.

In the end, meat that hasn't been frozen (as these are) and is carefully cooked on the bone can be a bit juicier and of course the whole bird makes more of a centrepiece for the feast. And I like a bit more crispy skin, always the carver's and cook's perk. But for smaller numbers and sheer ease, this is hard to beat. Convenience can be done with taste and style.

Note: Christmas orders are now closed. For more information on Piper's Farm products, including a selection of ready-meals, Tel. 01392 881380, or alternately visit  www.pipersfarm.com.