Roast Partridge and Watercress
A great game bird simply cooked
More and more I look for ways to simplify my cooking, there is always a certain pressure and expectation to present something with a ‘wow’ factor that is in accordance with the awards and ratings but being clever for clever’s sake is off my menu.
Personally, I much prefer to concentrate on the quality of the product and allow that to be the star of the show, garnishes and extra touches are still evident in many of my dishes but they are all there for a reason. I do not pretend that was always the case but more of my early Head Chef days in a later post!
Game cookery is a classic example. I love partridge and love putting it on the menu. The menu has changed for the December onslaught, some dishes have to be simplified for ease of service, some not. Partridge is one dish that I am happy to simplify every time. Last week the partridge was served with butternut puree, lentils du puy cooked with pancetta and thyme, winter chanterelles and a ravioli of its meat flavoured with cepes, bacon and truffle. Looked great and I was more than happy with the taste but I kept thinking about how I would eat one at home, especially at Christmas and how a little nod to restaurant dishes of old wouldn’t go amiss.
We roast the partridge with goose fat and butter. The cavity is flavoured with thyme, garlic and a little juniper. We cook the bird breast side down before turning over after nine minutes. Twelve minutes in an industrial oven (you should allow eighteen to twenty) and it is left to rest breast side down. In the meantime a small pot of fresh brown chicken stock has been simmering away, reducing and developing flavour. The breasts and legs are removed from the carcasse and kept warm. The bones are chopped up and added to the stock for extra flavour. The legs should be cooked through, bloody isn’t an option, the breast meat should be moist with a slight pink tinge, but no more.
The stock is passed and for a little luxury some shaved truffle is added at the end. Fresh peppery watercress is seasoned with olive oil and rock salt and served with the roasted bird alongside a jug of bread sauce, some wine jelly and a pile of fried, wafer thin potatoes.
Simple but fabulous, and every bit of it makes sense.
Looks superb !
December 6, 2007 @ 9:02 am
Miles,
That sounds about as good as it gets, a feast for a king.
Cid
December 6, 2007 @ 9:25 am
Miles,
That looks and sounds just so good.
Cid, I think we should give up on the snipe and have the above instead.
December 6, 2007 @ 1:54 pm
Cid & Derfel,
Thanks, it’s looking increasingly likely that the noble bird will be on my Christmas plate this year.
Miles
December 6, 2007 @ 4:28 pm
Elsie,
You may be right (sob!)…. somewhere there is a collective sigh from the local woodland fowl, well the skulking waders anyway
Cid
December 6, 2007 @ 7:45 pm
Miles,
Don’t think we didn’t notice those huge truffle shavings
Wasn’t you who bought that whoper was it?
Cid
December 6, 2007 @ 7:51 pm
Cid,
Alas no, just the medium sized ones for me I am afraid.
Miles
December 6, 2007 @ 9:12 pm
Oooh! Partridge! Love it. Are your partridges what we call grouse? Hairy legs and all? I get so few here in California, although we do get chukars occasionally, which are basically the red-legged partridges of Spain.
Beautiful recipe. Will have to try it when I find some chukars…
January 3, 2008 @ 12:52 am
Hi Hank,
Partridges are different from Grouse-by quite a few dollars actually! Not sure about the American name for them but they are superb.
Welcome to the site and thanks for commenting.
Miles
January 3, 2008 @ 8:28 am