In order to write a quick article of contemplation for the New Year, we flipped through some books and once my intense irritation at Aristotle’s insistence that cooking was something meant for slaves and low-lives had died down, I found solace in Chaucer.  That is, until he reminded me that in Medieval times the King dined alone – that ”His Majesty sits in a hall covered with tapestry, without another person except his court jongleurs (jugglers)“.  Always alone. How terribly, terribly sad.  How many people do we know tha will be alone this New Year’s Eve and  are going to do something about it?  

Later the art of Michael Wolgemut came to my attention - a woodcut of King Solomon dining with his wives, illustrated it so poignantly!  We celebrate hope this year, without which no-one can live and we celebrate the fact that we are able to say goodbye to the old and embrace the new because, after all, many wonderful new things happened in 2008 – the Americans unanimously insisted on change and in so doing, gave the world a great gift; the environmentalists, through their tireless efforts, gained more ground than ever before and we, as humans, have started to feel shame – shame for our greed, for our lack of consideration and above all, shame for our immense selfishness and short-sighteness. I have faith that 2009 will be even better and maybe, just maybe, we’ll be the generation that will see the birth of a race of human beings that care enough about their fellow man to make sure, at the very least, that nobody is hungry anymore. I know that the world will be fine if we can allow our youth to carry on with the business of doing business and not allow them to learn our own tainted and selfish ways.

TWO SAUCE ROASTED PARTRIDGE FOR 2009

Ingredients

• 2 young partridges, cleaned, livers reserved
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 10 garlic cloves, blanched for 10 minutes, skins removed
• 4 sprigs of fresh thyme, finely chopped
• 6 rashers streaky bacon (Jewish readers, see note below)
• 2 large lemons, zest only
• 2 tbsp light extra virgin olive oil
• 100g butter
• 2 baby leeks, chopped
• 2 heaped teaspoon cardamom seeds (taken out of the pods)
• 250ml chicken stock
• 2 x portions Hollandaise sauce from our basics series (look for Exceptionally Eggs, Eggs Benedict)

Method

Preheat the oven to 220C

• Season the birds inside and out with salt and pepper, then place the garlic, rub cardamom seeds, lemon zest and fresh thyme inside each bird, reserving one twig of thyme.
• Drape the bacon over each bird and truss into place with string.
• Heat the oil and 15g of butter in a large ovenproof pan until the butter is foaming and very hot.
• Add the partridges and fry briskly on all sides and then put them in the preheated oven to roast for 8-10 minutes on each side.
• Remove from the oven and put the birds breast down in the pan – allow the birds to rest for 5 minutes.
• Using the same pan that the partridges were cooked in, sweat the leeks in a little butter, untie the birds and remove the bacon and the garlic cloves.
• Chop the bacon into 5mm pieces and put to one side with the cloves.
• Cut off the legs and the breasts from the birds and keep warm.
• Chop the carcass and livers and add to the shallots, cooking gently for a few minutes.
• Add the stock, reserved twig of thyme and two garlic cloves that have been left.
• Simmer for 5 minutes then strain through a fine sieve into a small pan.
• Boil until reduced to a sauce consistency which coats the back of a spoon.
• Whisk in 15g of butter and season with salt and pepper and a few leaves of fresh thyme.
• To serve, fry the reserved bacon pieces and garlic cloves gently in butter until the bacon is starting to crisp up and the garlic is beginning to brown.
• Make sure the partridges are still warm and then arrange on warm serving plates.
• Pour over a little sauce and then garnish with the fried garlic and bacon pieces.
• Keep the Hollandaise sauce on the side and serve with this bacon sauce

Note: For our Jewish readers: please note that chicken bacon is not suitable since the fat content is relatively low, so I would suggest lamb bacon if you live in South Africa and in countries that produce lamb bacon, in the rest of the world, skip the bacon and use an extra 150 g of butter in the sauce.  The flavour will be different, but still very good.