Ingredients (Serves 4)

4 whole oven ready Partridge
[Wrapped in streaky bacon]
salt and pepper

1 large butternut squash [peeled and chopped]
200ml chicken stock
100g unsalted butter
Sage leaves
A 500g mixture of stoned damsons, elderberries, quince and blackberries
Port
A little sugar
Bay leaf
Juniper berries
300ml game jus

Method
Season the partridges and roast in a hot oven for 15–20 minutes, rest in a warm place.

Make the purée by placing the squash pieces in a saucepan covering with chicken stock. Cover and cook until soft then drain, puree with the sage and add the softened butter to enrich the purée. Season to taste.

To mull the fruits prep the quince into peeled segments and place in a sauce pan. Cover with the port, a little sugar, bay leaf and juniper berries.

Poach until just tender, add the other fruits and remove from the heat.

Pour off half the mulled juice. Return to the heat, reduce by two-thirds and then add the game jus.

Heat and strain into a fresh sauce pan, add the mulled berries to the jus.

Take the bacon off the partridges and return to a hot oven to brown for about 5-10 minutes. We do it a la Francaise here, slightly underdone, to leave it a little pink and moist.

Portion the partridge into breasts and legs and serve with the warmed puree and finish by spooning round the warmed autumn fruit and jus, top with the streaky bacon and deep fried sage.

By James Mackensie, chef-proprietor, Pipe & Glass Inn, South Dalton, East Yorkshire