Best of British Game Partridge with Pear and Thyme

Partridge with Pear and Thyme for Best of British:

We’ve spent the last 5 months visiting various blogs throughout the UK who have been championing their own local produce and cuisine.  Literally from Lands-End with Choclette to John o Groats, with Janice at Farmers Girl Kitchen.  During that time, you’ve all risen to the challenge with some fabulous and topical entries.

This month, because it’s the grand final and I know we haven’t had a chance to visit EVERYWHERE yet, I decided that you could choose your own part of Britain (or one with a cuisine you particularly like).  My entry is for Norfolk, because I grew up there and my memory is very much of fenland root vegetables, of game (there are some fabulous shoots around Sandringham) and of my mother’s own simple cookery.

The Fens are a vast expanse of drained marshland that stretch from Norfolk to Cambridgeshire and up to Lincolnshire.  The peaty soil is very rich and perfect for growing crops like celery, potatoes, celeriac, turnips, swedes and sugar beet.  The very flat landscape means that arable farming is made easy – fields are large and farm machinery doesn’t have to negotiate hills, woodland and winding paths.  I love the open skies – I haven’t found anywhere else in the UK with such brilliant night time skyscapes, bizarre places where the peat has shrunk so that roads and canals run above the fields and the eeriness of fenland fogs.

I also love the unspoilt beaches.  I was brought up in Hunstanton, a quirky seaside town that time seemed to have forgotten.  There are cliffs and rockpools – and further along vast sandy beaches with dunes, creeks and waterways.  And of course there is local seafood – I remember cockles and whelks, shrimps and crabs from small kiosks.

But it’s still the game I remember best.  Probably because my mother used to curse as she was presented with another brace of pheasant, knowing she’d have to find a way to pluck them (I think she generally volunteered the lady who cleaned my Dad’s surgery!).   And, Sunday lunch or supper was always a roast, whether it was beef, chicken, lamb, pork or pheasant.

We also always had apples and pears because we inherited the Doctor’s house from my Dad’s predecessor, complete with orchard and vegetable garden.

So here’s my perfect Best of British Sunday Supper for One.

Roast Partridge with Honey Glazed Pears and Celeriac Mash

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Serves	1
Prep time	5 minutes
Cook time	45 minutes
Total time	50 minutes
Meal type	Main Dish
Misc	Serve Hot
Region	British

Ingredients

• 1 Partridge
• 2 Rashers of Bacon
• 1 Pear (Cored and Quartered)
• 2 sprigs Thyme
• 1 tablespoon Honey
• 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
• 100g Celeriac Root (Peeled and chopped into 2cm chunks)
• 1 Small Potato (Peeled and Quartered)
• 1oz Butter
• 20ml Milk

Directions

Step 1	Pre heat the oven to 170c
Step 2	Put the Partridge on a small roasting tray and surround with the pear quarters
Step 3	Mix the honey, oil and thyme in a small jug and season with salt and pepper
Step 4	Cover the Partridge breast with the bacon, then drizzle the honey and oil mixture over everything
Step 5	Put in the oven to roast for 30-40 minutes (depending on size), basting occasionally.
Step 6	20 minutes before you are ready to serve the Partridge, boil the potato and celeriac in lightly salted water till both are soft.
Step 7	Drain, then add butter and milk. Season with salt and pepper to taste and mash thoroughly. For a lighter mash, cook the celeriac separately and blend with a hand mixer, before adding to the mashed potato, milk and butter.
Step 8	Once the Partridge is cooked, allow to rest for 5 minutes under foil, before serving with the juices poured over

If you’d like to take part in our Best of British Challenge, this month judged by Brian Turner and with a grand prize of £300 of Amazon vouchers, just tell us in your blog what makes it special and where it is from. Remember to link back to this page and to the New World Appliances Site and then link your blog post up.

P.S.  You can link ALL your recipes from Best of British over the last few months.  Brian is picking the overall winner this month which could be any one of the previous entries…or something brand new and splendid!