The pandemic has given rise to some nifty food kits to make dining at home a far more exciting experience. And one of the most impressive and easy to prep packages we’ve tried are the duck confit and braised beef cheeks from Direct to Masses, a mod con (modern convenience) concept which prepares restaurant-quality dishes till it's practically ready to eat, packages it, then requires simple reheating or minor finishing touches on your part. It's an offshoot of casual Franco-Asian restaurant The Masses, owned by Dylan Ong, the ex-chef of Saveur, which was famous for its duck confit. We’d say these additive-free dishes are Christmas dinner-worthy because they taste practically restaurant-quality. And they take only minutes to reheat.

We were sceptical initially — frozen duck confit doesn't exactly inspire lust in our greedy hearts. But these local duck legs, painstakingly slow-cooked in duck fat for 12 hours with thyme, bay leaf and orange, before being blast-frozen for freshness, are pretty good. There are three ways to reheat this, but we were lazy and simply placed the frozen meat in a preheated oven at 180°C for 10 minutes to defrost, cranked up the temperature and heated it for a few more minutes till the skin was crackly. The result was legs so tender they threatened to fall from the bone while being transferred from pan to plate. Succulent, well-salted, unctuous meat sheathed in crisp skin. Comes with passable orange vinaigrette, but we prefer it with sharper Dijon mustard. This works out to $14 per piece vs $19.90 to dine at the restaurant (but the latter comes with sides like noodles). Good quality for something that requires minimal effort. However, be careful not to reheat for too long and eat asap or risk it drying out, as we found out on our second try.

We know making braised beef anything from scratch takes forever. And honestly, we don't always have the energy to stand for hours behind the stove these pandemic-filled days. Yet, we’ve been scarred by gamey ready-to-eat packaged beef stews that took far longer to prep than the reheating instructions required. But this was superb. The fork-tender, flavourful hunks of sauce-soaked beef are pre-simmered for 12 hours in Cabernet Sauvignon, thyme and bay leaf. To serve, place the frozen beef cheek pack into boiling water for 20 minutes, and the accompanying mashed potato one for 10. The silky, super rich spuds require a bit more work, but trust us when we say it’s worth it — add hot milk to it and mix before dolloping onto the delicious beef. Most yummy and decadent with a juicy glass of red wine. Alas, the beef cheek isn't sold individually but is included in the X’mas bundle (see below).

Italian-style boneless pork stuffed with dried figs, prunes, sage and thyme. Not bad, but we prefer the brand’s Sio Bak ($38 for three slabs). It undergoes the traditional Cantonese slow roast treatment in a drum oven for its shatteringly crisp skin. Just heat up in the oven.

The bundle — ideal for gifting or simple hosting at home — comes with two X’mas Porchetta slices with honey mustard, one duck leg confit with orange vinaigrette, one red wine-braised Angus beef cheek, and mashed potato. For a 4-6 pax bundle ($138), it’s twice the amount of dishes minus a slice of Porchetta. Order before 30 Nov to get the 2-3 pax bundle for $55 and 4-6 pax bundle for $128.

Available from 1 to 30 Dec for next-day delivery orders. Pre-orders till 30 Nov only. Tel: 6266 0061 or order online at https://directtomasses.sg/.

Photos: Direct to Masses Singapore