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Pot Roasted Partridge Recipe

4 people
Easy

Prep time
20 mins

Cook time
40 mins

Total time
1h

Javier De La Hormaza

Recipe provided by

Javier De La Hormaza

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Ingredients

4 whole partridges, gutted and cleaned
200g bread crumbs
200g Iberico bellota ham, sliced into strips
4 fresh chicken livers
2 large shallots, finely chopped
2 egg yolks from hard-boiled eggs, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
4 granny smith apples, peeled and cut into wedges, core removed
50g of caster sugar
200ml whipping cream
1 bay leaf
2 sprigs of thyme
4 tbsp butter
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper

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Introduction

This is an old school Basque recipe from Jenaro Pildain, chef patron of Guria, one of Bilbao’s most iconic restaurants. Pildain was a classic chef, known to be the god of bacalao through his mastering of classic salt cod dishes such as Bacalao Pil-Pil, Bacalao a la Vizcaina and Bacalao Club Ranero. However, I have a 1980’s Basque recipe book where Pildain’s dishes clearly show how he was influenced by refined French cuisine and how those influences made him produce dishes that could also be counted as part of the Basque nouvelle cuisine movement of the 1970s. The name of this recipe perdices a la moda ederra, which means partridges in beautiful fashion, is an obvious sample of the influences that Pildain was exposed to. The recipe itself is very simple to prepare, the partridges are stuffed with a mixture of sauté chicken livers, breadcrumbs, shallots and garlic. They are then pot roasted with caramelised apples and crispy Iberico ham. The result is incredibly refined, as the soft creamy partridges balance perfectly with the sweetness from the apples and the salty notes from the Iberico ham.

Method

Start by making the stuffing. Heat one tablespoon of the olive oil and fry 50gr of Iberico ham until crispy and coloured, set aside. In the same pan, brown the chicken livers in the oil that the ham has created, for one minute on each side, on a high heat. Remove from the pan and allow them to cool down. Once cold, cut the livers into small chunks and set aside. Finally cook in the same pan the chopped shallots and garlic until soft, add the breadcrumbs and fry for a couple of minutes to make them slightly golden in colour, add the chopped parsley, chopped hard-boiled egg yolk, the cooked chicken livers and the crispy Iberico ham. Mix well and season with salt and pepper, set aside.
Season the partridges with salt and pepper and fill them with the stuffing mix, tie the legs and wings with some butcher string, just like you would do with a chicken and set aside.
Heat a large casserole dish that is big enough to fit the four birds, melt three tablespoons of the butter and one extra spoonful of the olive oil and when hot, brown the partridges on all sides, drain and set aside.
In the same pan, add a little bit of oil and fry the rest of the Iberico ham until crispy and golden, drain onto kitchen paper. Use the last tablespoon of the butter and sauté the apples with the sugar on a medium heat until lightly caramelised on all sides, remove the apples. Add the cream and bring to the boil, season with salt, pepper, add the bay leaf and thyme and reduce the heat to a simmering point.
Add the partridges and cook covered with a lid for 30 minutes on a slow simmering sauce, turning them half way through. Add the apples for the last 15 minutes.
Serve with the crispy ham sprinkled over the partridges and the sauce created during cooking.