A partridge and a pear treat

 

From a food lover's perspective it is not by chance that the Christmas hymn finds a partridge in a pear tree, for it is a truly excellent combination and recipes can be found in many older cookbooks.

Here's my take on this very traditional dish.

Ingredients:

4 partridges, prepared for cooking and giblets

streaky bacon for barding

60g unsalted butter

A good tablespoon of brandy

100 ml chicken stock

sea salt and black pepper, freshly ground

2 firm william pears

10 cloves

a little grated nutmeg

3 cm cinnamon stick

90g caster sugar

40 ml white wine vinegar

4 tablespoons water

To begin, take the pears, peel them carefully, slice in half and remove cores. Now take the cloves, grated nutmeg, cinnamon stick, sugar, white wine vinegar and water and put into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Place the cut pear halves into this liquid and simmer gently for at least 15 minutes, but do not allow them to go soft, they should remain firm but cooked. Remove from the pan and allow to cool.

Meanwhile preheat the oven to 200 C. Take the partridges, remove the giblets including the livers, setting aside, and season the birds well inside and out.Place the streaky bacon over the breasts of the birds.

Take a flameproof casserole dish and heat over a medium flame. Add half of the butter, then the partridges, livers and their giblets and fry both sides over a higher heat for 5 minutes each side. Take the partridges and giblets out of the casserole dish, set the giblets aside and remove the bacon from the partridges.

Add the remaining butter, the brandy and the chicken stock to the casserole dish, and then place the partially cooked partridges back in also. Place in the oven, uncovered, and roast for 15 - 20 minutes.

When cooked, remove the partridges and keep warm. Take the giblets and liver, puree well and add to the partridge juices in the casserole dish. Taste and season further if required. reduce a little until the sauce starts to thicken and become glossy.

Serve the partridges, one per person with the beautifully but gently spiced pear and a little of the excellent sauce. Ideal accompaniments would be braised celery or perhaps baby potatoes boiled in their skins.

This is an excellent dish, simple to prepare but delicious. It's also an amusing take on the Christmas song well appreciated I'm sure by your dinner party guests!

Enjoy!

Comments

[cookitaly]

Love it Paul, now if only I could find a partdrife or two!

[cookitaly]

errrm ... a partridge or two....

[Kitchen Butterfly]

Patridge I've never tried...but poached pears, I have a whole jar in the fridge. May have to give this combo a go!

[Paul]

Hi KB - please try, it's a delicious combination!

[Christmas gifts]

Ummm, sounds delicious...

[Bruce Madsen]

The Nuwave Oven is a counter top oven that uses infrared technology to cook the food. I saw the ad on TV so many times that I stopped paying attention to it. It wasn't until recently that I noticed the line where it said that the oven cooked food in half the time it takes a normal oven. Not the fastest time possible but I wanted to try out some more healthy meals instead of home nuked meals from the microwave, it seemed to be a reasonable compromise.