With the game shooting season in full swing, executive chef Chris Bolan of The Nevill Arms in Leicestershire shares five standout recipes to try at home. From partridge with black garlic to venison en brioche, each dish reflects Chris’ passion for seasonal, locally sourced ingredients and his fine-dining roots.

The arrival of autumn and cooler weather means game is very much back on the menu.  

We’re big fans of game at Schöffel Country, so when the opportunity arose to talk to top chef Chris Bolan and source five fabulous recipes which readers can try at home, we didn’t think twice. 

Chris, who is executive chef at the Three Goats – a hospitality group in Leicestershire and Rutland – loves the taste, versality and healthy eating qualities of game. We join him at The Nevill Arms in Medbourne, an iconic venue where wild game, sourced from local estates, sits alongside pasture-raised meats from the group’s own farm. 

Chris’s culinary journey began in the Welland Valley, where he first stepped into a professional kitchen as a teenage pot washer. After more than a decade in London’s culinary scene, including a stint as head chef at the Michelin-starred Trinity in Clapham, he found himself drawn back to the Leicestershire landscape that first inspired him. His approach blends fine dining precision with a deep appreciation for traditional cooking. 

“We’re in a beautiful, unspoilt area, and one of the joys of being a chef here is spending time in the countryside with estate owners, gamekeepers and farmers,” Chris says. “Hearing how they look after the land, and forming partnerships with them, means their wonderful game and meat can be enjoyed by ever-more people. 

“These five recipes vary in complexity,” he explains. “The partridge and pheasant ones are fairly simple to make, while the venison rack boulangère is perhaps suitable for those with a little more culinary experience. I’ve also included a venison en brioche which is a beautiful dish and might suit those with even more aptitude in the kitchen.” 

Partridge, cep, black garlic and watercress on sourdough 

Serves 1 

INGREDIENTS 

• 1 oven-ready partridge 

• 1 thick slice quality sourdough 

• 1 bulb black garlic 

• 50g caster sugar 

• 50ml white wine vinegar 

• 50g unsalted butter 

• 100g ceps 

• Thyme sprigs 

• Handful watercress leaves 

METHOD 

1. Preheat your oven to 180°C. 

2. Start by making the black garlic ketchup. Peel the garlic so you are left with just the cloves. In a small pan, caramelise the sugar with a little water until a light golden brown, add the white wine vinegar and bring to the boil. Once boiled, add the garlic cloves and a little water to cover. Bring to a simmer and cook until the garlic can be pressed to a paste with the back of a spoon. Strain the liquid, add the garlic to a blender, then slowly add the cooking liquid back. Blend until it’s a thick, shiny and smooth paste. 

3. Warm a heavy based pan for a few minutes, season the partridge all around and sear gently in the pan in a little oil. The skin should be taken to no more than a light golden colour all around. Once this is achieved, sit the partridge on its back, add the butter and allow to foam. Once foaming, baste the partridge with the butter for 1 minute, then remove the partridge from the pan and place the sourdough in. 

4. Toast on one side, flip the bread, place the partridge on the bread and cook in the oven for 3-4 minutes (or until cooked). When you remove the bird, sit it tilting on the thickest part of the breast and pour all butter and cooking juices into the cavity. Allow the bird to rest for a minimum of 10 minutes. 

5. While the bird is resting, half and score your ceps and roast in a very hot pan with foaming butter, good quality sea salt and thyme sprigs until evenly caramelised. If the ceps are large, they may take a minute in the oven. 

6. Once rested, take the bird off the bone and arrange with the ceps, black garlic paste and watercress on the toast. Serve warm. 

Korean-fried partridge, kimchee and lime 

Serves 2 

INGREDIENTS 

• Kimchee (see Method) 
• 4 skinless partridge breasts 
• 100ml buttermilk 
• 20g gochujang 
• 40g honey 
• 40g soft dark brown sugar 
• 20ml dark soy sauce 
• 1 garlic clove 
• 10ml sesame oil 
• Juice of 1 lime 
• Rapeseed oil 
• 100g cornflour 
• Pinch toasted sesame seeds 

METHOD 

1. Making kimchee is a long process, so it might be simpler to buy a good quality ready-made product, but if you do wish to do it yourself, there are plenty of recipes online. 

2. Lightly season the partridge breasts and soak in buttermilk overnight. 

3. In a small heavy-based pan, put the gochujang, honey, sugar, soy, minced garlic clove, sesame oil and lime juice. Whisk together and bring to the boil. Scrape into a bowl to cool and set aside. 

4. Heat rapeseed oil to 180°C. 

5. Remove the partridge from the buttermilk and dredge in the cornflour. Place carefully in the oil and allow to fry for around 4-5 minutes. Remove from oil, drain on a cloth and then toss in sauce and sesame seeds. Finish with a little fresh lime and serve on a bed of kimchee. 

Venison rack boulangère 

Serves 2 

INGREDIENTS 

• 500ml good quality venison stock 

• 100ml white wine 

• 3 large Maris Piper potatoes 

• 1 Italian white onion 

• 3 garlic cloves 

• 50g butter 

• Black pepper 

• 1 x 4 bone venison rack 

• Rosemary and thyme 

• 1 x bunch True spinach 

METHOD 

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C. 

2. Thinly slice the onion and place in a heavy-based pan with a good pinch of salt and the butter. Place a lid on the pan and cook on a low heat, stirring occasionally until the onions are translucent and soft. At this point add the minced garlic cloves and continue to cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the white wine and reduce to a glaze. Add the venison stock and bring to the boil, then remove from the heat. 

3. Peel the potatoes and slice on a mandolin to a thickness where the potato is a whole slice but is slightly translucent. 

4. In an oven-proof dish or small pan, ladle some of the stock/onion mixture. Arrange 2 layers of slightly overlapping potatoes, lightly season with salt and pepper and repeat this process until the dish is filled. Place in the oven and allow to cook for 60-90 minutes or until the potatoes are lightly coloured on top and soft throughout. 

5. Season the venison rack and sear in a hot pan until caramelised well all around. Once seared, sit the venison on a trivet of rosemary and thyme sprigs and cook in the oven for 5-10 minutes until medium rare. Add a knob of butter to the pan and allow to rest for 15 minutes. 

6. Slice the venison, wilt the spinach and serve on top of the boulangère. 

Pheasant Milanese, sage, prosciutto, parmesan and bitter leaf salad 

Serves 4 

INGREDIENTS 

• 4 skinless pheasant breasts 

• 200g panko breadcrumbs 

• 100g plain flour 

• 1 egg 

• Dash of milk 

• Parmesan 

• Sage leaves 

• 4 slices prosciutto 

• Juice of one lemon 

• 150g unsalted butter 

• Chopped parsley 

• 2 banana shallots 

• Mixed bitter leaves, such as castelfranco, trevise, tardivo, frisée, radicchio and grumolo 

• Good-quality vinegarette 

METHOD 

1. Pre-heat your oven to 180°C. 

2. Butterfly the pheasant breast, put between parchment sheets and beat with the flat side of a tenderising hammer or in absence of this a rolling pin to slightly flatten the breast. 

3. Finely grate about 50g of parmesan into the panko breadcrumbs. Beat the egg with the dash of milk. 

4. Dip the pheasant breast into the flour to completely coat, then dip in the egg/milk mixture and finish by coating in the panko/ parmesan mixture. Set aside for use later. 

5. Thinly slice one of the shallots and cover in oil. Bring to the boil, stirring continuously until the shallots start to go crispy. At this stage strain the shallots from the oil and spread on a cloth to cool. Season with salt immediately. 

6. In a separate pan, heat up 50g butter until foaming and drop in the sage leaves. Fry until crispy and drain on a cloth and season with salt immediately. Set aside with the crispy shallots. 

7. Pick and wash the salad leaves. Dry well and set aside until serving. 

8. Finely dice the other shallot. 

9. In a heavy based pan, put another 50g of butter and allow to foam. Once foaming, season then fry the breaded pheasant breast until crispy on one side, then turn, fry for another minute or two and place in the oven for 2 minutes. 

10. When the pheasant comes out of the oven, remove from the pan and set on a plate to cool. Put the pan back on the heat and add the remaining butter and the diced shallot, season with good-quality rock salt and allow to sweat. Once the shallots are soft, add the lemon juice and allow to cook down slightly. Finish with chopped parsley. 

11. Sauce the pheasant with the pan juices, garnish with crispy sage and shallots, torn pieces of the prosciutto, more grated parmesan and the dressed bitter leaves. 

Venison en brioche, truffled celeriac and cavolo nero 

Serves 2 

INGREDIENTS 

• 1 x 200g venison loin steak 

• 250g chestnut mushrooms 

• 1 celeriac 

• 25g unsalted butter 

• 25g black winter truffle 

• 500ml double cream 

• 1 banana shallot 

• 2 garlic cloves 

• Pinch chopped parsley 

• Good knob of butter 

• 10g green pistachio 

• 50g lardons 

• 1 head cavolo nero 

For the brioche: 

• 550g strong flour 

• 10g dried yeast 

• 100ml whole milk 

• 50g caster sugar 

• 4 large eggs 

• 15g salt 

• 100g softened unsalted butter 

METHOD 

1. Preheat your oven to 180°C. 

2. Activate the yeast with 25g of the sugar, 50g of the flour and the milk. 

3. Add this to the rest of the ingredients for the brioche and knead to a soft, smooth dough. Once achieved, add the butter a knob at a time and incorporate until the dough is smooth again and shiny. Once all the butter is in the dough, shape into a ball, place in a bowl, cover with a cloth and allow to rest for 1 hour. 

4. After 1 hour the brioche should have doubled in size. Take a piece from the dough and roll to the thickness of a pound coin. Chill the rolled brioche in the fridge. Any remaining dough can be proofed into a loaf or rolls. 

5. Once chilled, use a lattice cutter to cut the brioche into a lattice shape. 

6. Peel the celeriac, and quarter. Thinly slice one quarter using a mandolin. Bring well-seasoned water to the boil and pour over the celeriac slices, then set aside to cool. Once cooled to room temperature, drain off liquid and place slices onto a cloth to dry. 

7. With the remaining celeriac, dice, season and cook slowly and without colour in a pan until soft. Once the celeriac is soft, add the double cream and bring to the boil. Once boiled, drain the liquid and put the celeriac into a blender and begin to blend. Add the cooking cream back slowly until required consistency is achieved. Once blended smooth, finely grate in the truffle and set aside for serving. 

8. Preheat a pan until almost smoking hot. Add oil and quickly sear the seasoned venison loin all around taking care that every side is caramelised. Chill quickly. 

9. Quarter the mushrooms, mince the garlic and dice the shallot. Roast the mushrooms in a pan until fully caramelised, add the shallots, garlic and a good pinch of salt. Continue cooking until the shallots are soft, deglaze with brandy and allow to reduce to a glaze. When this is achieved, place on a tray to chill. In a separate pan fry the lardons until crispy. 

10. Once chilled, chop the mushroom and shallot mix until fine. Add the chopped parsley, pistachio and lardons. 

11. Lay out a single layer of the blanched celeriac onto cling film so it is a little wider than the venison loin and long enough to wrap around. Spread the mushroom mixture across this the width of the venison loin. Place the venison loin on one side and wrap around, rolling further layers of cling film to hold the shape of the roll. Allow this to set in the fridge. 

12. Once set, unwrap and brush lightly with egg wash, stretch the lattice and cover the roll with it only slightly going on the underside of the roll. 

13. Place on parchment on a tray and cover with cling film making sure not to let the cling film touch the brioche dough and allow to proof for around one hour or until the brioche has doubled in size. Once achieved, lightly egg wash. 

14. Bake in the oven at 180°C for 12-15 minutes or until the internal temperature of the venison is 38-40°C and the brioche is cooked. 

15. Rest for 10 minutes, slice and serve with the puree and blanched cavolo nero. 

Note: You will have excess brioche dough, but you can simply roll this into a loaf, proof in a loaf tin, bake at 180°C for 30-40 minutes and then enjoy fresh brioche.