Deep-fried partridge legs with piri piri hot sauce

This is certainly a less traditional partridge recipe! At Hunter Gather Cook, we serve the partridge legs in a bowl as “bird lollies” with the piri piri sauce labelled a “white trash dipping sauce”. Leaving the claws means you have something to pick your teeth with afterwards — classy! Serve with watercress, nasturtium and yarrow salad.

Ingredients for the deep-fried partridge legs:

• 700ml of cooking oil for deep frying
• 1 small bowl of seasoned plain flour
• 1 egg
• 1 small bowl of panko breadcrumbs
• 8 partridge legs (plucked, cleaned and washed)

For the celeriac remoulade:

• Juice of 1 lemon
• 2 tbsp of mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp dijon mustard
• 1⁄2 a celeriac
• Salt and pepper
• Nigella seeds to serve

For the piri piri sauce:

• 60ml olive oil
• 1⁄2 red pepper
• 4 red chillies
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 40ml of distilled vinegar
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1⁄2 tsp of smoked paprika
• 1tsp salt
• 1 pinch of sugar

Method for deep-fried partridge legs:

1. Pour the oil into a heavy-based frying pan and place on a gentle heat. You will need to get the oil up to 170°C (350°F).
2. Lay out three bowls — one of flour, one with a beaten egg and one with panko bread crumbs. Dip each leg in the flour, followed by the egg, and then roll in the panko breadcrumbs to coat.
3. Once the oil is up to temperature, place the legs in the oil in pairs and cook until they turn golden.

How to make celeriac remoulade:

1. Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl (apart from the celeriac) to make the sauce.
2. Coarse-grate or julienne the celeriac into the sauce and mix well.
3. Chill before serving and sprinkle with nigella seeds.

Piri piri sauce

This is a great sauce to make and it goes with just about anything. It’s really simple to put together, and is a great way to make use of all those ripe chillies from the greenhouse. If you like, you can turn up the heat with a few Naga or Scotch bonnet peppers — but be warned: you do so at your own peril…

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a pan, then roughly chop the peppers, chillies and garlic and add them to the pan for a few minutes.
2. Add the vinegar together with all the other ingredients and leave to simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Remove from the heat, allow to cool and then blend until smooth.
4. Have a taste and add a pinch more sugar if desired. Pour into a jar or bottle and store in the fridge for up to a month