Served with pretty purple carrots, a simple purée and creamy Albert sauce, this lightly herby, pan-fried grouse looks like something straight from a restaurant kitchen. You’ll need to set a bit of time aside, but it’s easy to cook – try it on a Saturday night.
Serves 2
Ingredients
For the dish:
2 grouse breasts
1 garlic clove
30g unsalted butter
1 sprig of thyme
For the Albert sauce:
2 shallots
25g unsalted butter
50ml white wine
125ml double cream
2tbsp horseradish cream
5g English mustard
1 lemon
10g breadcrumbs
Nutmeg, grated
For the carrots:
2 purple carrots
4 orange carrots
2 star anise
200g unsalted butter
1 cinnamon stick
Equipment needed:
2 small saucepans
Frying pan
Food blender
Method
Trim any excess skin from the grouse and seal in a hot frying pan skin side down, turning once the skin is crisp. Add 30g of the butter, a garlic clove and a sprig of thyme to an ovenproof dish with the grouse, then cook the grouse at 180 degrees for around 7 minutes. Take out and leave to rest.
Make the Albert sauce by finely dice the shallots and cook gently in 25g of the unsalted butter until soft. Add the white wine and reduce until almost gone, then add the double cream, horseradish cream and mustard. Cook until the sauce thickens. Stir the breadcrumbs, lemon juice and a touch of nutmeg into the sauce to finish.
To prepare the purée, peel and roughly chop the orange carrots into a pan with 300ml of water then gently simmer until soft. Drain the water, add a small amount of double cream and blitz in a food blender until puréed.
Spit the purple carrots in half lengthways and fry in a lightly oiled pan until golden brown.
To serve, spoon a portion of the puree onto a plate and rest the grouse breast over the top. Arrange the carrot around the grouse and finish with a good spoonful of the sauce.
Recipe from eatwild.co
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