Partridge in a pear tree

A few weeks ago I acquired some partridges and, seeing as it is coming up to the festive period I thought I would share the recipe for this most festive of dishes.

Before the jus

Partridge can be readily found in your local fields. However, if you don't fancy shooting and preparing your partridge you should be able to find them in your butchers or a supermarket. Preferably go for the butcher. 

For this recipe you will need:
2 pears
1 partridge
some carrots
some chopped cabbage leaves
(This is for one dish. Increase the pear and partridge by one for every additional dish)

Peel and halve the pears. One pair of pear halves will be kept to one side for the time being. The other pair should be chopped up finely and put in a saucepan with about 200ml of water. Bring to the boil and then simmer whilst you prepare the rest of the dish. 

Heat the oven to 180C. Sear the partridge in a frying pan with a knob of butter to colour the skin and start the cooking process. Wrap the breast in some bacon, the fattier the better, and transfer to the oven along with the whole pair of pear halves and carrots. Leave in the oven for about 15-20 mins. 

Strain the pear sauce and return to the heat to reduce by half.

Once all cooked, prepare in the following way. Plate up the pair halves at 90 degrees to each other to form the trunk. Place the carrots underneath the horizontal pear and the cabbage leaves above the vertical pear. Carve the breast off the bird and place the breasts in the cabbage. Drizzle the pear jus over the dish and eat.

Devonian Sausage and Mash

This weekend I had the pleasure of entertaining two very good friends from home. The trickiest thing, I find, is thinking up food to cook for people that is a) tasty; b) quick / can be left alone. So, on Saturday as we went around the museums of London I put a dozen sausages in the slow cooker with the very best compliment to sausages, and which definitely makes this recipe Devonian as opposed to being from any other (and inferior) county. 

This key ingredient is cider. But any old cider won't do. It has to be from Sandford Orchards as that is, in my opinion, the best cider in the world. But for this recipe I used some Old Kirton (see image) as it is a great cooking cider and great drinker. It's dry, sharp and with a kick to whisk you back to the rolling, red mudded hills of Devon. 

Not only is Old Kirton a great cooking cider, it's also a fantastic drinking cider. However, if you like your cider fizzy and cold you should probably rethink your life and get some of this down your gullet. 

Anyway, back to the recipe. Dozen sausages and about a litre of cider. If you can't make it Old Kirton, make sure it's dry and flat. Whack on the slow cooker for a few hours (I think this was on for about eight). 

When it's almost ready, mash up some spuds and transfer most of the liquid into a saucepan. Now, with some cornflour you want to thicken up the cider sauce into a cider gravy. Serve up the sausages and the mash and cover with a ladle of the cider gravy. 

Now that, ladies and gentlemen, is a proper job.