Mike Robinson's Ultimate roast beef for meat-lovers

Advance preparation

1. Read through all the recipes in advance to familiarise yourself with the steps.

1. Purchase all of the ingredients and check them off the list to avoid last-minute panics.

1. Make sure you have enough room in your fridge for all the ingredients. You may have to rent or hire a second fridge if you're serving lots of people and don't have a larder.

Two days before

1. You can make the red cabbage dish a couple of days before Christmas if you like, and store in the fridge. Try chopping the cabbage in a food processor to save time.

Day before

1. Make the pâté and store in the fridge.

1. Make the Yorkshire pudding batter and store in the fridge.

1. Make the filling for the poached pears: if you like you can poach the pears and reduce the sauce the night before - simply grill the poached pears with their stuffing and heat up the sauce on the day.

Leftovers

1. Leftovers should be stored, covered with cling film, in the fridge and consumed within two days of preparation.

Dairy, eggs and chilled

1. 50g/2oz butter

1. 200g/7oz butter, melted

1. 50ml/2fl oz double cream

1. 100g/3½oz Stilton

1. 4 large or 5 medium free-range eggs

1. 800ml/1 pint 7fl oz milk (you may not need all of it)

1. 5 tbsp duck fat

Fruit and vegetables

1. 1 medium onion, finely sliced

1. 2 dessert apples, peeled, cored and sliced

1. 1kg/2¼lb red cabbage, finely sliced

1. handful of dried cranberries

1. 4 pears

1. 16 medium-sized Maris Piper or King Edward potatoes (each about 175g/6oz), peeled, cut into equal-sized pieces

1. 8 garlic cloves

1. 8 sprigs thyme

Cooking ingredients

1. 100g/4oz sultanas or raisins

1. 200ml/7fl oz sherry vinegar

1. 8 fresh bay leaves

1. 2 x 18cm/6 inch cinnamon sticks

1. 2 cloves

1. 100ml/3½fl oz clear honey

1. 100g/3½oz toasted walnuts or pecans

1. 350g/12oz plain flour

1. vegetable oil, for cooking

1. 1 tbsp English mustard powder

1. a drizzle of vegetable oil or 2 tsp duck fat

1. freshly ground black pepper

1. 4 tsp plain flour

Meat, fish and poultry

1. 450g/1lb chicken livers, trimmed

1. 2.5kg/5½lb oven-ready rib of beef on the bone

Drinks

1. 1 tbsp Armagnac or brandy

1. 1 x 75cl bottle good-quality port

1. 350ml/12fl oz red wine