I recently ordered some game birds from D'Artagnan. A Scottish Wood Pigeon and a Red-Legged Partridge . . . shotgun pellets and all!
They were delivered overnight and reasonably priced considering they had been fluttering about in the heather not too long before!
I found a wonderful recipe for partridge from the classic and weighty tome Paul Bocuse's French Cooking: Perdrix á la mode d'Isigny. Isigny is a town in Normandy And as this region is famous for its apples and its dairy products, you can bet that a recipe d'Isigny will feature one or both of these ingredients. Incidentally, I read that the origin of Walt Disney's family name is "d'Isigny."
Simple, and delicious. You may want to use a fancy stovetop and oven proof casserole for this, but you don't need a cover so any small, fairly deep pan that will hold the bird with just a bit of space left around it will do.
Get a fairly thick slice of panchetta and tie it over the bird's breast while trussing. The round shape of the panchetta will make it fit the breast just right, and being unsmoked it won't mask the bird's own flavor. Note that while I DO NOT recommend trussing chickens or other larger birds, it's fine here because it assists even browning and because the legs are so small they don't cover much of the breast. The panchetta shield, officially known as barding, will keep the breast from drying out but is a temporary measure. Don't worry about perfect trussing technique. Just make sure the legs are pulled together and the pachetta is secure.
Now brown the bird in butter all over for a total of about 10 minutes. Naturally you'll want to use high quality butter, or even the real deal, but watch your temperature or the butter will burn!
The bird will not be fully cooked at this point, but set it aside to rest, pour off any excess butter and deglaze the pan with white wine, vermouth, or even better . . . Calvados! Reserve the juices and put the pan back on the heat.
Peel, core and cut into thick slices 2 firm, medium sweet apples. Add more butter to the pan and lightly brown the apple slices but DO NOT cook them all the way through. Do them in batches so as not to crowd the pan OR you can brown them in a larger pan while you brown the bird.
While this is happening . . . or when done, remove the trussing and barding from the bird. You will make your life easier by taking the now cooled bird and using a stout knife cutting it almost in two down the center of the breast. This way, when it's cooked and hot and saucy, you can easily split it in half for two. If you're eating alone, you can skip this step.
Once the apple slices are browned, line the bottom of the casserole with a layer and put the bird on top, breast up. Nestle the remaining slices all around the bird, leaving the breast exposed. Make sure that they hold the two halves of the bird together. Add the reserved deglazing juices and pour half a cup (or more) of crème fraîche over all so that it coats the bird. Pop all into a 350 degree oven, uncovered. Cook until the bird is done medium rare, not more than 130 degrees in the breast and the sauce is bubbly. You can even give it a shot of the broiler to add some browning if you take care not to overcook the meat. GAME BIRDS ARE SERVED RARE . . . PERIOD.
The classic accompaniment to upland game is Bourdeaux or some robust, dry red wine. And that did go very well with the Wood Pigeon with peas (recipe so other time). But for this I would go with a Pinot Noir or even "a nice Chianti"). Ith gu leòir!
P.S. What do you do with the left over panchetta? How about serving it in an egg sandiwch on an English muffin, Monsieur Dumas?
