How to Butcher and Cook a Grouse, with James Durrant of The Game Bird

James Durrant, Head Chef of The Game Bird at the Stafford Hotel, London, show us how to prepare and cook his Roasted Grouse dish from scratch. Full recipe below

Recipe,

Grouse
10 whole Grouse
1. Remove the legs and offal from the grouse, leaving the breast attached to the crown
2. Use all trimmings (neck and back bone) for braising the legs
3. Oven roast the breast on the crown for 2-4 minutes at 185 degrees depending on size and carve when needed
4. Keep offal to make Pâté
Braised Legs & Sauce
Legs from 10 grouse
2 Carrots
1 Celery stick
1 Garlic bulb
2 Onions
¼ bunch Thyme
500g White wine
500g Madeira
4ltr Chicken Stock
1. Roast bones from prep in a pan
2. Add diced vegetables and thyme, roasting until browned
3. Add white wine and Madeira, reducing until thickened
4. Add chicken stock, bring to the boil and add pre-seared grouse legs
5. Simmer until legs are tender
6. Remove legs and allow to chill
7. Once chilled, remove thigh bone
8. Pass off liquid to separate pan and reduce until required consistency for sauce
Thyme
Deep fry 12 sprigs of thyme at 160 degrees
Pâté
500g Grouse offal
200g Foie Gras
1 Shallot
½ Clove garlic
100ml Port
1. Pan roast all offal until golden on outside
2. Roast foie gras until golden and cook in oven until cooked through
3. Add shallots, garlic and port to pan and cook until liquid is reduced
4. Chill all elements
5. Once chilled, blend all elements together
6. Spread on to brioche when plating
Game Chips
10 Large Baking Potatoes
1. Peel potatoes and slice on mandolin, rotate by 90 degrees per slice to create a criss-cross effect
2. Fry at 160 degrees until golden
Bread Sauce
500ml Milk
½ Onion
2 Cloves
1 Bay Leaf
1. Add the onion and cloves, add to a pan with milk and heat gently for 20 minutes to infuse.
2. Remove the onion and cloves and whisk in bread crumbs. Whisk until thickened and creamy.
Parsnip Puree
500g Parsnips
150g Butter
Milk to cover parsnips
1. Roughly chop parsnips and boil in milk until soft.
2. Remove from milk and blend with butter until smooth
Baby onions
30 Baby onions
Vegetable oil
1tbsp sugar
1. Peel and roast in vegetable oil until golden
2. Add 1 spoon of sugar and chicken stock and reduce

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