How to Cook Partridges and Partridge Recipes

Partridges are one of the smaller game birds. While for many people, a partridge is only something which they would expect to find in a pear tree at Christmas, it truly does represent a delicious eating experience and the ways in which it can be cooked and served are many and varied. This page will show a number of ways in which it is possible to cook and enjoy partridges at their very best. It includes recipes for preparing breast fillets and one for roasting a whole bird. Here you will find ideas both for starters and for main courses. As a general guideline, you should allow one breast fillet per person for a starter, or two fillets or a whole bird per person for a main meal.

Faster and more efficient transportation methods, technological advances such as vacuum packing and particularly the overwhelming popularity of the Internet have all combined to make partridges and other game meats readily available to people who may not have had access to them before. This means that even if you don't know it, your fresh partridges may just be a Google search and an e-mail or telephone call away.

The partridges featured on this page were purchased in just such a fashion, as part of a larger, wild game order. The whole partridge was individually wrapped, while the partridge breast fillets came in vacuum packs of four. The pack in each instance was clearly endorsed with the best before date, both where the meat was to be used fresh and where it was to be stored frozen. None of this partridge meat got the chance to see the inside of a freezer but if you are using frozen partridge, ensure it is fully defrosted before being cooked.

The fresh herb used throughout this page to complement the partridge is sage. This is simply personal preference, as it is my belief that no other common herb works quite as well with game of this type. Do feel free, however, to experiment with your own fresh herb of choice in pursuit of your own favourite recipe.

Ingredients

1 partridge breast fillet
5 thin slices from a large potato
2 x 1oz sage and onion herb butter
1 small glass (¼ pint) of apple cider
2 tsp apple sauce
2 tsp redcurrant jelly
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Chopped sage leaves to garnish

Method

You will need two non-stick frying pans for this recipe, one small and one large. Although the butter used here is previously infused with sage and onion, ordinary butter with a little bit of fresh sage can substitute. Add one ounce to each frying pan and gently melt.

Season the partridge breast klightly on both sides and place it in the smaller pan. Fry over a medium to high heat for two minutes each side. Transfer it to a heated plate and cover with foil to rest. Pour the cider in to the empty pan and increase the heat to achieve a modest simmer.

As soon as the partridge is in the pan, season the potato slices and add them to the larger pan. Fry for four to five minutes on each side over a medium heat until golden.

When the potatoes are ready, drain them briefly on kitchen paper. Arrange them in an overlapping circle in the centre of your serving plate as shown to the right and spoon the redcurrant jelly and apple sauce around the edges.

Sit the partridge breast on a chopping board, slice it in half with a sharp knife and set it on top of the potatoes. Spoon over a little of the cider sauce and serve immediately.

Ingredients per Serving

1 partridge breast fillet
1 slice of black pudding
1 large glass of red wine
2 tsp whole berry cranberry sauce
1oz butter
1 tbsp vegetable oil
Salt and black pepper
Chopped fresh sage to garnish

Method

Pour the wine in to a small saucepan and add the cranberry sauce. Bring to a simmer to reduce approximately by half, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon and ensuring the cranberry sauce is fully melted.

Add the oil to one small frying pan and the butter to another. Put them both on to a medium heat. Remove any remaining plastic rind from the slice of black pudding and add to the pan with the oil to fry on a medium heat for four minutes each side.

Season the partridge breast and fry for two minutes each side on a medium heat. Transfer to a heated plate and cover with foil.

Gently pour the red wine and cranberry sauce to cover the base of a deep serving plate. Sit the black pudding in the centre of the dish.

Cut the partridge breast in half and sit it on top of the black pudding. Garnish with the fresh sage and serve.

Wild game of course comes in many different shapes and forms and with increased availability in the modern world, we may not always be sure how to best prepare the game we have the chance to purchas. Below is a sample of some of the in-depth wild game cookbooks currently available on Amazon at frequently hugely discounted prices.

Get the recipes... get the game... and get cooking!!

Ingredients

1 whole partridge (skin on)
2 slices of Ayrshire middle bacon (or 4 ordinary bacon slices/rashers)
3oz butter
Little vegetable oil
1 large baking potato
1 tsp Dijon mustard
5 asparagus spears
Redcurrant jelly
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Chopped sage or other herb to garnish

Method

Put your oven on to preheat to 220C/425F.

Melt one ounce of the butter in a small frying pan and quickly brown the partridge all over, moving it around the pan with a pair of cooking tongs. Turn off the heat and push the pan aside to let the bird cool enough to handle. Wrap it in the bacon, ensuring the breast and thighs are covered.

Lightly grease a roasting tray with vegetable oil and sit the partridge on the tray, breast side up. Put it in the oven for thirty-five minutes. After this time, turn the oven off and leave the door slightly ajar, allowing the partridge to rest for fifteen minutes.

When the partridge has been in the oven for about fifteen minutes, peel the potato and dice it to about one inch chunks. Add to a large pot and season lightly with salt before pouring in enough cold water to comfortably cover the potatoes. Bring to a boil on a high heat then reduce to simmer for twenty-five minutes.

The reamining two ounces of butter should be added to a small frying pan on a medium heat. Season with salt and plenty black pepper. Sautee the asparagus spears for three to four minutes, turning regularly.

Drain the potatoes and return them to the empty pot. Mash them with a hand masher until smooth. Add the Dijon mustard and stir to combine with a spoon before laying them on the plate as what will form a bed for the partridge.

Lay the asparagus spears next to the potato and spoon on the redcurrant jelly.

Remove the roasting tray from the oven using protecting gloves and lift the partridge with a spatula on to the mashed potato bed. Garnish with the chopped sage.

Although a knife and fork should be provided with this meal, to get the full enjoyment and most meat from the partridge, it should in the latter stages be broken apart and eaten by hand.

Ingredients

2 partridge breast fillets
2 slices of Ayrshire middle bacon (or 4 slices/rashers of ordinary bacon)
Baby new potatoes (quantity as desired)
2oz trimmed green beans
Vegetable oil for frying
Salt and black pepper

Method

The potatoes have to be cooked and cooled prior to being roasted. Wash but don't peel them and add them to a pot of cold, salted water. Bring the water to a boil and simmer for thirty minutes. Drain the potatoes, return them to the empty pot and cover. leave to cool for at least an hour.

Put your oven on to preheat to 180C/350F.

Season the pheasant breasts and wrap them in the bacon. Bring a little vegetable oil up to heat in an ovenproof (no plastic handles, etc) frying pan and fry the wrapped breasts for about a minute each side. It's also important not to use butter in this instance, as it may burn in the oven. Put the frying pan in to the oven for five minutes. Turn the oven off and leave the door ajar for the breasts to rest.

While the partridge breasts are in the oven, peel the skin off the potatoes. This should be easy to do by hand. When the partridge breasts are started resting, deep fry the potatoes for five or six minutes until crisp and golden. Drain on kitchen paper.

The trimmed green beans should be added to boiling salted water for three minutes, simply to blanch.

Remember to use an ovenprotecting glove when removing the pan from the oven and plate your meal for service.

Ingredients

2 partridge breast fillets
1 conference pear
1 pint cranberry juice (approximately)
2 tsp honey
2 medium potatoes
5oz butter
Half pint chicken stock
4 Brussels sprouts
Salt and white pepper
Freshly chopped sage for garnish

Method

Wash and peel the pear. Leave the little bit of stalk at the top intact but take a small cut off the bottom to allow it to stand upright on the plate. Pour the cranberry juice in to a saucepan deep enough to contain the pear, along with the honey. When the pear is added, the liquid should come at least two-thirds of the way up the side. Heat to achieve a fairly rapid simmer for twenty minutes for a soft pear or thirty minutes for a harder pear. Turn the pear frequently during cooking.

Put four ounces the butter in to a fairly large pot and on to a medium heat. Allow it to melt completely and continue heating until you hear it has stopped sputtering. It ill have turned a nutty brown colour.

Peel the potatoes, cut a slice of each end to allow them to free stand and half across the way. Very carefully, add them to the butter and season with salt and white pepper. Cook for seven minutes each side, turning with cooking tongs, until golden.

Heat the chicken stock in a separate saucepan to a simmer. Very carefully (there will be a lot of sputtering) pour the chicken stock in with the butter and potatoes. The potatoes should be just covered. Simmer for twenty minutes then check with a skewer to ensure the centre of the potatoes is softened.

The Brussels sprouts should be simmered in slightly salted water for ten to twelve minutes before being drained through a colander.

Fry the seasoned partridge breasts in the remaining ounce of butter for two minutes each side. Transfer to a plate and cover with foil to rest while the remainder of the preparation is completed.

Lift the fondant potatoes one by one from the stock and plate as shown. Remove the poached pear in a similar fashion and sit upright in the centre of the plate. Slice the partridge breasts in half and add a half to each potato. Plate the Brussels sprouts and scatter with the chopped sage as a final garnish.

Thank you for taking the time to read through this page and I hope you have found it informative and useful. Any feedback which you have may be left in the space below.