Partridge Chartreuse

This was more successful.
Layers of partridge, braised cabbage, bacon, carrots - wrapped in savoy cabbage leaves.
The dish took 3 hours to make:
brown the partridges
roast the birds for 8 minutes, rest for 15
blanch and refresh outer cabbage leaves - pat dry
cut cabbage hearts into 4
brown bacon, brown cabbage hearts in roasting tray on hob
place whole carrots in roasting tray, half fill with water
roast for 1 hour
take breasts and legs off the partridges
brown the carcasses in a saucepan
add mirepoix celery, carrots, onion - brown them too
add thyme, bay.
add water, cook for an hour.

then assemble chartreuse:
butter deep sided roasting dish
lay out a good looking cabbage leaf on the bottom
line the dish with cabbage leaves
take the stalks from the cabbage hearts, and spread the leaves in the dish
layer with partridge breasts
layer with cabbage hearts, thickly sliced bacon
layer partridge legs, thickly sliced carrots
final cabbage heart layer - and top off with cabbage leaf.
wrap it all up.
Roast for 30 minutes.

Gravy - strain the vegetables and carcasses from the liquid, reduce the liquid. Add scant cornflour if nec to thicken.

Turn out the chartreuse onto a serving dish - it should be presented in one tidy piece.

I'd roasted some potatoes to go with it - which sopped up the gravy a treat.

In the end - i needed more bacon - not the pancetta I had. And actually - a smaller cabbage. there was depth of flavour from the way it had all been cooked, but overall just too much cabbage. Needed more partridge and bacon.