CookEat Recipe
Cold Partridge Pie with Truffle
A closed pastry pie with fine partridge and chicken-liver filling, breast and cured-tongue strips, and pieces of black truffle, served cold.
Method
Steps
Step 1
Gather the ingredients: 1 legally supplied food-grade partridge, professionally dressed and eviscerated, about 400–500 g; 3 professionally prepared chicken livers, about 90 g, trimmed; 1 egg yolk for the filling; 2 bay leaves; About 60 ml Marsala; 50 g black truffle, brushed clean; reserve clean peelings; 50 g ready-to-eat cooked cured beef tongue; 30 g prosciutto containing fat and lean, thinly sliced; 40 g butter: 30 g for the bird and about 10 g for greasing the mould and tray; A piece of soft fresh bread crumb about the size of a fist, about 60 g; 30 g onion, finely chopped; 30 g carrot, finely chopped; 30 g celery, finely chopped; About 300 ml ready-to-use broth, added as needed; Salt and black pepper; 250 g plain flour, plus a little for rolling; 80 g cold butter for the pastry; 2 teaspoons potable food-grade alcohol, about 10 ml; 2 teaspoons sugar, about 8 g; 2 egg yolks for the pastry; Juice of 1 lemon wedge, about 1 teaspoon; 5 g salt for the pastry; Cold water, only if needed to bring the dough together; 1 additional egg yolk beaten with 1 teaspoon water, for glazing.
Step 2
Use a professionally prepared food-grade partridge; do not age or eviscerate a wild bird at home, and do not wash raw poultry. Put the bird in a casserole with the chopped onion, carrot and celery, 30 g butter, prosciutto and the two whole bay leaves. Season lightly. Cook until the onion begins to colour, then add the Marsala gradually and a little broth as needed. Simmer for about 15–20 minutes, until the bird is partly cooked.
Step 3
Immediately remove the two breast portions and cut them into eight strips in total. Finish these strips gently in a little broth in a separate small pan until at least 74°C, then keep hot and moist. Remove all the remaining meat from the carcass, cut into small pieces and return to the first pan with the three chicken livers. Cook until all these pieces, especially the liver centres, reach at least 74°C. Do not store any partly cooked poultry. The partridge own liver and other viscera are not used.
Step 4
Lift the fully cooked meat, livers and prosciutto from the pan and remove both bay leaves. Add the bread crumb to the remaining juices with a little broth, stirring to make a thick soft paste. Pound or process the cooked meat mixture, bread paste and clean truffle peelings very finely, checking carefully that no bones remain, then press through a sieve. Mix in the filling egg yolk and work to a smooth cohesive paste. Keep the mixture cold briefly while completing the pastry and assemble without delay.
Step 5
Make the pastry while the filling cooks. Rub the 80 g cold butter into the 250 g flour, then add the sugar, 5 g salt, two yolks, the potable food-grade alcohol and lemon juice. Add cold water a little at a time only as needed for a firm but rollable dough. Use alcohol sold for food or drink, never denatured alcohol. Work briefly until combined, cover and refrigerate for about 30–60 minutes. This is an estimated mixing and resting method for the source ingredient formula; do not taste raw dough.
Step 6
Heat the oven to 180°C. Butter a fluted hinged pie mould of about 1–1½ litres and its baking tray with the reserved 10 g butter. Roll the pastry to about 3 mm thick, reserving enough for a lid and a small decorative bow. Line the base and sides of the mould, sealing all joins. Cut the cooked cured tongue into strips and the peeled truffle into hazelnut-sized pieces.
Step 7
Spread some fine filling over the pastry base, arrange part of the eight breast strips and tongue strips with some truffle pieces, then repeat in layers until used up. Press gently so the filling is compact. Cover with the pastry lid, seal the edges and cut a small steam vent in the centre. Brush the outside with the extra yolk-and-water glaze. Shape a small bow from the reserved pastry and place it on a separate part of the baking tray.
Step 8
Bake the pie for about 45–60 minutes, until the pastry is fully cooked and golden and the filling centre reaches at least 74°C. Bake the small bow alongside for about 15–20 minutes, removing it sooner than the pie. After taking the pie out, place the separately baked bow over the vent for serving. Allow steam to subside briefly, then remove the hinged mould carefully. Cut the pie into portions while warm if necessary for quick cooling and refrigerate promptly in shallow containers within 2 hours. Chill until cold throughout, about 3–4 hours, and serve as six small cold-course portions. Eat within 2–3 days, keeping at 4°C or colder.
Step 9
For the source woodcock alternative, use two legally supplied, professionally eviscerated food-grade woodcock in place of the partridge. Remove all bones, heads, feet and viscera; do not retain intestines, their contents or wild-bird livers. Use the same filling and pastry method, adjusting cooking time to the birds and checking all poultry and the final pie centre reach at least 74°C.
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