The Cottage Smallholder

French partridge are such pretty birds. I see quite a few when I’m driving around the villages. These are busy, sociable birds that move about in small groups. They rush to hide in the hedgerows with quick neat steps and beaks held high as Jalopy thunders past.

Some friends of mine reckon that they mate for life. A solo male partridge moped around their garden for days until I clomped into a dark barn wearing my hob nailed boots and by mistake, trod on him. There was a soft sighing cry. I rushed up to the house to fetch a torch.
“Don’t worry, he was dying of a broken heart. You put him out of his misery.”
I felt awful.

But when someone sends us a brace of partridge, hob nailed boots are forgotten and we clap our hands with glee. A friend gave me this recipe a few weeks ago. She used a roasting bag. We used our ceramic game casserole with excellent results.

Melt in the mouth partridge recipe (for 2)
Pre heat the oven to 160c (140c fan)

Ingredients:

• 2 partridge
• 6 slices of unsmoked streaky bacon
• 1 lemon
• 2 small knobs of butter
• 4 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 2 tablespoons of redcurrant/damson/wild plum jelly
• Small glass of white wine or damson gin if you’d like a more raunchy dish
• Salt and ground black pepper

Method:

1. Cut the lemon in half lengthwise and squeeze each half over a partridge rubbing the lemon juice well into the flesh of the birds.
2. Put half a lemon into the cavity of each bird along with a knob of butter and a sprig of thyme.
3. Spread a tablespoon of redcurrant jelly over the breast of each bird and put a spring of thyme on each.
4. Season each bird and wrap the streaky bacon slices over the breast of each bird, securing the bacon with a cocktail stick. Place the birds breast side down in a casserole. Splosh over the wine and put a piece of foil under the lid to ensure a snug fit.
5. Place in a preheated oven for an hour and twenty minutes (or until tender) 160c or 140c fan.
6. Serve with crispy bread to soak up the juices.