August 12th - The Glorious Twelfth - is the start of the grouse shooting season in Britain. It also signals the beginning of the end of summer and indicates that pretty soon it'll be woollies and stews for 6 months. Tasty, lean and dark, the meat almost tastes like liver. It's a bit disconcerting to have something in front of you that looks like a chicken (albeit a small one) but tastes like red meat.I took a really traditional approach to this one - skinned them (they weren't cleanly plucked), wrapped them in streaky bacon, tucked a sprig of rosemary in the cavity and roasted them at 180C for half an hour. I served them with the leftover carrot puree from the Oeufs à la Crécy, skirlie (medium oatmeal fried with onion and bacon fat - brought half way to the twentieth century with a good handful of chopped parsley) and a sauce of redcurrants, beef stock, red wine and some wine jelly. The red currants provided just the right sour counterpoint to all the rich meaty flavours.
I have never had grouse but it looks interesting and how can you not love something wrapped in bacon!?
ReplyDeletealright, i feel like i am reading a period piece. looks fascinating.
ReplyDeleteDeb - bacon (like cheese) makes everything good.
ReplyDeleteMM - it's a blast from the past isn't it? Like something from a historical romance.
Good GOD, August 12th in Greece is the height of summer! On the other hand I wish we had goose meat here too, it is so tasty.
ReplyDeleteI've never tried grouse before, is it anything like pheasant? It looks delicious, I love anything with bacon!
ReplyDeleteJo - lol! No, you definitely wouldn't want to be eating something like this in the height of a Greek summer!
ReplyDeleteSam - a bit like pheasant, a bit like pigeon. Very dark and fine-grained.
This is fabulous—the presentation looks great, and I can just about taste the the dish! I love that you used a carrot purée to pick up the gaminess of the meat, and I think that the sprig of redcurrants is an inspired touch of yours—that lovely tartness must have been a perfect 'lift'! Over here, I like to use pomegranate seeds in season in rich dishes for a similar effect.
ReplyDeleteAlso? Skirlie? I will pester you for your recipe sometime. ;)