We had called into Charlotte’s Butchery to pick up some minced pork for some autumn sausage making.  One of the real joys of Charlotte’s is that in addition to fabulously consistent meat, the meat display often has something unusual to tempt you away from your carefully planned shopping list.  Today was no exception!  Sat next to some very good looking duck breasts were a couple of brace of prepared partridge.  Each was complete with a strip of bacon and at just £3 each they we’re crying out to be taken home!!!

The bacon was removed from the birds. Some dried and fresh thyme and some juniper berries together with salt and pepper were ground using a mortar and pestle.  This was then mixed with some lightly warmed butter and then smeared generously over the skin of the partridge.  The bacon was then stretched with the back of a knife to thin it and make it longer and wider.  It was then wrapped over the breast of the partridge.  Also added, was a little pancetta to cover the rest of the breast and the legs.

They were placed in the roasting pan together with a handful of lardons.  In a separate pan, a whole pear cut into 4 slices and cored was lightly sautéed in the remaining herb butter and a little rapeseed oil.  When lightly coloured, they were added to the roasting pan.

The Big Green Egg had been set up for indirect cooking and brought to a temperature of 200C.  The roasting pan was placed on top of the cooking grill and the EGG was closed.  The birds were left to roast for 15 minutes.  Whilst they were cooking, 2 slices of rye bread were fried in the pan in which the pears had been sautéed.  These were then put to one side.

After 15 minutes the bacon was removed from the breasts of the partridge and slipped into the side of the roasting dish.  The pear slices were turned over so both sides could be caramelised.

In a domestic oven I would probably have left the partridge like this to colour up for the last 15 minutes.   In the BGE, even when set up indirectly, the heat comes from below and so anything touching the bottom of the pan will caramelise and colour. The birds were therefore turned over after 5 minutes to let the breast contact the pan directly.  Next time I would do this as soon as the bacon was removed rather than 5 minutes later.  This would give a little more time for the  breasts to colour.

Once the birds had been roasted for a full 30 minutes the core temperature was around 76C (in the coolest areas) and around 80C in the breasts.  They were removed from the pan, placed on the fried rye bread and dressed with the bacon. They were left to rest on the fried bread in a warm oven (50C) for 10 minutes.  Whilst they were resting, the roasting pan was placed on the hob and the pan was deglazed with a large splash of white wine.  The alcohol was boiled off and a large spoon of sage jelly was added and stired through to make a rich ‘jus’.   The partridge were served in the centre of the plate on the fried bread with the caramelised pears.   The fried bread had absorbed the juices that came from the birds when they were resting.  The dish was finished with the white wine and sage jus together with some roasted potatoes and lentils.

This recipe is a real ‘keeper’ and fits so well with our attempts to eat more ‘seasonally’ – Partridge and a pear from the tree!!

………………………. if you get a chance – give it a go!