Name: Roast Grouse
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 4 young, oven-ready grouse; Cornflour, loosened with a little red wine (optional); 25 g (1 oz) butter; Watercress, to garnish (optional); Salt and pepper; 300 ml (½ pint) Chicken Stock or water; 300 ml (½ pint) red wine; 1 onion, roughly chopped; Cooking oil; 1 carrot, roughly chopped; 1 celery stick, roughly chopped; 1–2 cloves; 1 bay leaf; 4 rashers of streaky bacon; 8 juniper berries; 4 sprigs of thyme

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

New British Classics

By Gary Rhodes

Published 1999

About

Red grouse (Lagopus lagopus Scoticus) are said by many to be the finest game birds in the world. They are unique to Britain, being found only in Scotland and the very north of England. (They are closely related to the willow grouse of Scandinavia and North American grouse and ptarmigans.) Their season runs from 12 August to 10 December. I like to serve the young birds up until the end of October. After that time they seem to be drier in texture. They also need little hanging to devel