Recipes

A recipe for Classic roast grouse for two from Game by Tom Norrington-Davies & Trish Hilferty.




Serves 2

    2 grouse (approximate weight 600g each) , plus the livers and hearts kept separately
    3 tbsp duck fat or lard
    Salt and freshly ground black pepper
    A good knob of butter
    100ml Brandy
    2 slices of bread (we prefer sourdough)
    1 bunch or 85g bag of watercress

Method

Pre-heat your oven to 250C/Gas 9

Season each grouse inside and out with a fairly generous pinch each of salt and pepper. Set the birds aside. Heat two tablespoons of the fat in the frying pan over a brisk flame until the fat just starts to bubble.

Reduce the heat to medium and place the birds in the pan, on one side, so that you start to brown one of the legs. Allow the leg to fry for about two minutes then turn the bird onto the other leg and repeat the process. Then turn the bird onto its breast so that the backbone is facing you, and fry the breast for a minute or so, until it just starts to brown. Then turn the bird all the way over again so that it is now on its back. Place it straight into the oven, carefully, so that the bird does not roll over onto a leg. Roast for six minutes. (Just in case you have a really big grouse, add a minute’s cooking time per hundred grams over 600).

Test the grouse for done-ness by pressing your thumb and forefinger on the fattest part of the breast  just where it meets the wing tips. It will feel properly firm, but with a very subtle ‘give’. At this juncture, we should point out that the grouse meat will be pink or medium rare, like duck or pigeon breast. If undercooked, grouse meat is alarmingly dark and slightly bitter near the breastbone. If overdone it can be dry and lacking in that heathery taste. If it feels underdone, return it to the oven but test it again every two minutes to avoid going too far with it.

When the grouse feels ready, upend the bird onto its breast and allow it to rest, in a warm place out of the pan, facing down like this for ten minutes. Meanwhile, you can make the toast and the pate. Return the pan to a very gentle heat and add the final spoonful of duck fat or lard. Add the bread slices when the fat has melted and let them fry in this rather lovely mix of fat and grouse juices. Turn once, being careful not to burn the toast (which, if we are honest is a kind of gamy fried bread or outsized crouton!).

In a separate, small pan, heat the butter quite briskly until frothy. Add the livers and hearts and lower the heat to medium. Fry for two to three minutes, stirring regularly, then add the brandy. At this point it should gently flambé. If not, you can encourage it to do so by tipping the pan towards a gas flame. If using an electric hob, you will have to ignite it by hand. Use cooks' matches, not a lighter, if you don’t want a singed knuckle.

Remove the pan from the heat. Take the hearts from the pan and pop them next to the resting grouse. Mash the livers into the butter and brandy, in the pan, using the back of a fork. Spread this mix onto the slices of ‘toast’.

You are now ready to present the dish to the table. If this sounds a bit grand, that’s because it is. Park the grouse on the slices of toast, breast side up. Give the watercress a turn around the dish you used to rest the birds, coating it in any juices they may have produced (it  won’t be a lot). You can either add a knot of watercress to the plate as a garnish or, not to put to fine a point on it, form  it into two small bunches, and ram the stalk ends into the cavity of each bird, with the leaves poking out of their derrieres. This sounds odd, but it is traditional! Enjoy, with bread sauce, and a splash of gravy or optional extras of game chips and pickled damsons.