Roast delicious quick-cooking little poussins... for one hour after stuffing each with a cinnamon stick and a wedge of orange. Marinade for several hours before cooking in a mix of juice and zest of one lemon and one orange, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves, 2 cloves of garlic, crushed, 1tsp ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground cumin.

Pleasant pheasant... You will be surprised by the deep gamey flavour of this lovely bird. Although this isn’t a traditional roast, it’s perfect for a winter Sunday lunch for two. Take two well-seasoned pheasant breast fillets, available in Waitrose, and sauté in oil for about two or three minutes on each side until cooked through. Remove from the pan, and cover with foil to keep warm. Use the same pan to saute an apple cut into thin wedges. Cook for a minute on each side. Add 100ml of chicken stock and bubble for five minutes. Turn down the heat and add two spoonfuls of crème fraiche and two spoons of chopped parsley. Pour the sauce into a warmed jug. Slice the meat into several pieces and return to the pan to warm through. Serve with the apple and crème fraiche, and steamed cabbage.

Quick veg... Sprinkle fresh thyme leaves over potato, carrot, turnip and parsnips cut into bite-sized chunks, dot with butter, and roast in a hot oven until golden.

Take one partridge... Serve a stuffed easy-carve version. It has a chicken flavour but with a gamey edge. Delicious served with potato dauphinoise, thinly sliced potatoes baked with herbs and hot chicken stock, and cut into neat squares.

Cook butcher’s sausages... and wedges of onion and potato together in one roasting tray. Add sliced red and orange peppers halfway through cooking for an easy accompaniment to plain roast chicken – full of rich flavour. Lots of farm shops now offer home-made Yorkshire puddings, cooked, frozen and ready to heat.

No time for fiddly veg... serve a roast chicken with steamed couscous, petit pois and delicious gravy, made with the cooking juices from the roast chicken, a small glass of red wine, a dessertspoon of redcurrant jelly or raspberry jam and a heaped teaspoon of grainy mustard... plus salt and pepper. Bubble together for a few minutes until slightly reduced.

Fish makes a quick alternative... to a joint of meat on a Sunday lunch. Smear skinless boneless fillets of salmon with pesto, then wrap in ready-made puff pastry, brush the parcel with beaten egg, and bake until golden.

If you love slow food... pot-roast lamb shoulder with handfuls of root veg, whole garlic cloves, fresh rosemary and thyme. Pour over two tins of plum tomatoes and a bottle of red wine. Cover and cook on a low heat for about four hours.

For a winter’s day dessert try baked apples, cored and stuffed with dark brown sugar, flaked almonds and dried apricots. Serve with vanilla ice cream. Or peel, core and slice pears, mix in a baking dish with chopped dates and walnuts, then top with a plain sponge cake mixture. Bake until cake topping is golden and cooked through. Serve with cream.