Partridge with Beetroot Three Ways

Serves: 4

Difficulty: Hard

Preparation time: 30 mins

Cooking Time: 1 hour

• 4 Whole partridge
• Sea Salt
• Pepper
• 100g Butter
• 4 Uncooked beetroot

For beetroot foam and gel:

• 500 ml Beetroot juice
• 5g Agar agar
• 5g Soy lecithin powder

For mushroom duxelle:

• 3 Shallots
• 1 Garlic clove
• 250g Button mushrooms
• 50g Butter
• 200ml Double cream

For pickled mushrooms:

• 200ml White wine vinegar
• 200ml Water
• 200g Sugar
• 2 Garlic cloves
• Few sprigs of thyme
• 250g Wild mushrooms
• 6 Peppercorns

Red vein sorrel

• Red wine
• 1 Shallot
• Tbs of red currant jelly

1. Mix 250ml of the beetroot juice with 5g of agar agar and bring to the boil.

2. Set in a tray lined with cling film and place into the fridge to set

3. For the pickling liqueur, mix the water, sugar, and white wine vinegar. add the thyme, garlic and pepper corns and bring to the boil

4. Whilst it comes to the boil prep your wild mushrooms and place into a container then when ready, strain and pour the pickling liqueur over them and put to one side.

5. For the duxelle finely dice shallot, garlic and your button mushrooms

6. Saute off your shallot and garlic then add your mushrooms until it has cooked down. Then add the cream and reduce it down again until you have a thick consistency

7. Get your pan hot with a little oil. Season your partridge with salt and pepper and place into the pan to brown off on all sides

8. Place the partridge onto a tray and rub the skin with butter

9. Place it into the oven at 180-200 C depending on the oven for 20 minutes. Be sure to flip the partridge upside down halfway through cooking to allow the juices to run back into the breast.

10. For beetroot crisps thinly slice beetroot and place onto a tray. Coat them in a little oil and some seasoning, salt and pepper, cook them for roughly 10-15 minutes until crisp.

11. To make the foam, blitz up 5 grams of soy lechitin powder with the beetroot juice. Remove the foam from the top and place to one side for plating up

12. For the red wine reduction, fry off your shallots in a pan, add your red wine and reduce by about half. Add in your red current felly and mix in until dissolved.

13. Get your partridge out of the oven and allow to rest for at least 10 mins

14. For plating up place a line of the duxelle on the place as well as a small amount in the centre. Place the whole partridge in the centre of the plate. Cut a slice of the gel you set in the fridge and lay it across the line of duxelle. Place a few beetroot crisps and pickled mushrooms around the plate. Finally add your beetroot foam to the plate, your red wine reduction and your red vein sorrel.