Is your freezer now laden with grouse? Traditional roast grouse is still the best way to eat mid season birds. Just follow our secret cooking technique for the perfect results every time
A TRADITIONAL ROAST GROUSE RECIPE
Have you been grouse shooting? Now that the season is in full swing fresh birds are in great supply and the best way to cook the bird is by using our traditional roast grouse recipe. There is also a chance that the freezer will have started to look rather grouse laden.
THE SECRET TRICK TO THE PERFECT ROAST GROUSE
If that is the case, do not worry. A frozen grouse is just as good used in the traditional roast grouse recipe as a fresh bird. They key is in the cooking, and a neat trick to ensure a succulent bird, even if they have been stored, or are a little older.
Mike Robinson’s secret trick is not a recipe but a technique. I have used this on grouse from the freezer. It works a treat.
There is nothing worse than a dry old grouse, or any gamebird for that matter. Start by bringing the stock to the boil, then turn it down low. Remove the legs from the birds (we generally save them up and cook them as an appetiser) and plunge the crowns in the simmering stock. This captures the moisture in the meat and ensures a perfect result.
Remove them after 10 minutes and allow them to cool a little. Next, brush them with melted butter, season well with salt and pepper, and shove a bundle of thyme up each bird’s bum. Then brown them well in a pan and roast them in a 180°C/350°F/
Gas Mark 4 oven for six minutes.
COOKING A YOUNG BIRD THE TRADITIONAL WAY
There is no need to mess about with a young grouse. A traditional roast grouse recipe consists of roast grouse, bread sauce and game chips. This triumverate of traditional ingredients is the highest pinnacle of sporting scoff.
This traditional roast grouse recipe respects the main ingredient, grouse – which doesn’t need to be dallied with - and lets the natural flavours come through.
Despite the robust smell of the bird, the meat is not as strong as you would think. It is totally individual and delicious, and very healthy (apart from the wine you have to drink with it, of course). There is no need to hang grouse before cooking a traditional roast grouse recipe.
WHAT TYPE OF GROUSE?
If you are have been grouse shooting then you will know if you bird is old or young. It is considered best to roast young grouse. If you have an old grouse see below for Mike Robinson’s chef’s trick for roasting old grouse successfully.
A TRADITIONAL ROAST GROUSE RECIPE
(best for young birds)
Serves 4
Ingredients
■ 4 young grouse
■ Salt and pepper
■ 8 crushed juniper berries
■ 8 sprigs thyme
■ 8 rashers streaky bacon
■ A little fat for roasting
■ A couple of handfuls root vegetables
For the bread sauce
■ 400ml (131⁄2fl oz) milk
■ 1 white onion studded with 5 whole cloves
■ 4 slices white bread, crushed
■ A good pinch mixed ground spice
■ Salt and pepper
For the game chips
■ 1 large frying potato, such as Maris Piper
■ Oil for deep frying
■ Salt
For the gravy
■ 200ml (7fl oz) veal/game stock
■ A good splash sloe gin
■ 100ml (31⁄2fl oz) light red wine
To garnish
■ Local watercress
■ Home-made or high-quality redcurrant jelly
How to cook the traditioanl roast grouse recipe
To make the bread sauce
Bring the milk to the boil with the onion in it. Let this infuse for about 20 minutes, then remove the onion and add the breadcrumbs, spice and seasoning.
The sauce needs to be of a loose, dropping consistency. Set aside and keep warm.
To cook the game chips
Peel the potato and slice it very thinly (NB: this should be done before the grouse is roasted). Rinse it thoroughly in cold water two or three times to remove as much starch as possible (this makes the potato crisps crispier). Pat dry, and deep-fry for two to three minutes, until golden brown. Season with a little table salt and set aside.
To cook the grouse
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6. Season inside and out, put the juniper berries inside the cavities of the birds, tuck a sprig of thyme under each leg and lay two rashers of streaky bacon over the breast of each grouse.
Colour in a roasting tray with a little clarified butter or duck fat. When sealed on all sides, roast for between 16 and 20 minutes, depending on size. Remove from tray and keep warm. Add the root vegetables to the roasting tray. Tip any juices from the birds into the tray as well as any offal – this will add to the flavour – and scrape up any sediment
that’s in the tray. Add the stock, sloe gin and red wine. Simmer gently for five to six minutes, pass through a fine sieve into a saucepan, and check the seasoning.
HOW TO PRESENT A TRADITIONAL ROAST GROUSE
Carve the breasts and legs. Arrange the streaky bacon next to each bird on a warm dinner plate. Put a pile of game chips next to the bird with a sprig or two of watercress. Pour any excess juices into the sauce, then pour the sauce over the birds and serve with warmed bread sauce and a pot of redcurrant jelly.
NB: keep all the carcasses for making good game stock; you can always stockpile bones in the freezer and make a decent batch when you have a good quantity.
AN OLD GROUSE CAN BE ROASTED TOO
Mike Robinson has an interesting technique for an old bird. The traditional roast grouse recipe is not the only way to cook the bird. You can roast grouse in a different way.
An old grouse roasted well
Serves 4
■ 1 litre (13⁄4 pints) chicken stock
■ 4 grouse
■ 100g (31⁄2oz) butter
■ Sea salt and black pepper
■ 4 large bunches thyme
This is not so much a recipe as a technique. There is nothing worse than a dry old grouse, or any gamebird for that matter. Start by bringing the stock to the boil, then turn it down low. Remove the legs from the birds (we generally save them up and cook them as an appetiser) and plunge the crowns in the simmering stock. This captures the moisture in the meat and ensures a perfect result.
Remove them after 10 minutes and allow them to cool a little. Next, brush them with melted butter, season well with salt and pepper, and shove a bundle of thyme up each bird’s bum. Then brown them well in a pan and roast them in a 180°C/350°F/
Gas Mark 4 oven for six minutes.
Take them out and rest for five minutes before carving. Serve with fried garlic potatoes, bread sauce, beans and some very expensive red wine, perhaps a burgundy.
If you enjoyed this traditional roast grouse recipe then try a pot roasted pheasant with fennel, or roasted roe liver. Another delicious traditional recipe is venison kidneys in cream sauce. One for food traditionalsts everywhere.