How to cook grouse

You might be daunted at the idea of cooking grouse but it's a great treat for a small dinner party.

If you haven't cooked it before try this reassuringly simple recipe from chef Stephen Markwick with whom I collaborated on his book A Well-Run Kitchen

Roast grouse ‘traditional style’

Once the first grouse arrive this means my favourite time of year from a cooking point of view is just around the corner. I find it hard to decide whether grouse or mallard (for which there is a recipe in

A Very Honest Cook) is my favourite bird but there is undoubtedly something very special about grouse. We serve it 'traditional style' - on a croute spread with its own cooked liver, bread sauce, crab apple or redcurrant jelly, game chips and a little gravy and it is absolutely delicious.

For the restaurant we buy the grouse ‘long legged’ which means they are plucked but not drawn. This determines the gaminess of the bird as the flavour develops if the guts are left in. You might not want to do this and it is easy to buy the birds oven-ready but do have the liver too!

Serves 4:
Ingredients
4 grouse (1 per person) including their livers
4 sprigs thyme
75g (3oz) butter
6 rashers of streaky bacon (1.5 each)
50ml (2 fl oz) dry sherry
300ml (1/2 pint) well-flavoured meat or game stock
Salt and pepper

For the bread sauce:
425ml (3/4 pint) milk
half an onion, roughly chopped
4 cloves
1 bayleaf
110g (4oz) fresh breadcrumbs
50g (2oz) butter
1 tbsp double cream
salt, pepper and nutmeg

For the game chips:
3-4 good size Maris Piper potatoes
salt

To serve
1 bunch of watercress for garnish
4 slices of white bread for the croutes (remove the crusts and cut the bread into a square or circle)
Crab apple jelly or redcurrant jelly

Method
Like most roasts that come with their own special accompaniments the order you cook things is key. The grouse itself doesn’t take long so you can get ahead by making the bread sauce and game chips in advance (see below) and part-cooking any vegetables. (We like to serve it with red cabbage).

To cook the grouse preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas 6. Put a roasting tin in the oven to heat, ready to take the grouse. Season the birds well inside and out with salt and pepper and place a sprig of thyme and a knob of butter in the cavity of each bird.

I like to start cooking the grouse in a frying pan on top of the stove: heat the pan, add a tablespoon of oil and a good slice of butter. Brown well on all sides before turning the birds breast side upwards and covering them with the streaky bacon.

Smear some more butter over the bacon, place in the hot roasting tin and put the tin in the pre-heated oven. Cook for approximately 12-15 minutes basting with the butter at least twice during that time. (If you don’t want to brown the bird first you can just put it straight in the oven but allow another 10 minutes cooking time.)

Grouse should be served rare. You can tell whether they are cooked by presssing the breasts with your finger. They should be springy. If they’re too soft, cook for a couple of minutes more.

It is very important to rest the birds in a warm place for 10 minutes before serving as it lets the meat relax and the juices set.

While the grouse are resting deglaze the roasting tin with the sherry and good quality stock and reduce to a rich gravy.

Fry the croutes in the butter you used to roast the birds. The livers can be fried in this too. (In the restaurant I tend to do this in advance, having chopped the liver first, then I mix it with a little chicken liver pat because the flavour of grouse liver can be quite strong.)

To serve: Put the grouse back in the oven for a minute to warm up. Spread your croutes with the liver paste and put one on each plate. Sit the grouse on top. Garnish with lots of watercress and serve the other accompaniments in separate dishes.

Bread sauce
Heat the milk gently with the chopped onion, cloves, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Once it is at simmering point (but not boiling) take off the heat, cover with cling film and leave to stand for half to three quarters of an hour to infuse the flavours. Strain the milk into another pan, place it over a low heat and whisk in the breadcrumbs. Add the butter, check the seasoning and add a little grated nutmeg and a dash of cream.

Game chips
You might just prefer to buy good quality crisps but in the restaurant I make my own! You need a good chipping potato like Maris Piper. Peel them, slice thinly on a mandolin and rinse well in cold water. Dry with a tea towel before cooking in batches in hot oil (160°C-170°C). Move the crisps around constantly while you fry them. They should take 3-4 minutes. Once they’re golden lift them out with a slotted spoon, drain them on kitchen paper and sprinkle lightly with salt.

What to drink: Red burgundy is the traditional match for grouse but there are of course other options. See my latest thoughts here

Beetroot and pinot noir risotto

Beets are everywhere at the moment but have you ever thought of using them in a risotto? And adding a dash of pinot noir?

This is one of my favourite recipes from my book Wine Lover's Kitchen which is perfect for this time of year. The sweetness of pinot chimes in beautifully with the earthy flavour of the beetroot/ beets. Use the freshest possible ones you can find for the deepest colour and flavour. (It’s worth wearing a pair of disposable plastic gloves when you cut them up so you don’t stain your hands!)

Vegetarian

Serves 4

3 tbsp olive oil

200g/7oz red onion, roughly chopped

3-4 fresh beetroot (about 450g) ideally with their leaves

I clove of garlic, crushed

225g arborio (1 1/8 cups) or other risotto rice

150ml (2/3 cup) inexpensive fruity pinot noir e.g. from Chile

1 litre (4 cups) hot miso stock made with miso bouillon powder

100g/3 1/2 oz mild, crumbly goat's cheese

a few sprigs of fresh dill or a handful of chives, chopped

Heat the oil in a large frying plan and fry the onion over a moderate heat for 5 minutes. Peel the beetroot/beets and cut into small cubes, add to the pan, season with salt and pepper and cook for another 10 minutes.

Add the crushed garlic, cook for a minute then tip in the rice and cook, stirring for 2-3 minutes. Pour in the pinot noir and let it evaporate. Add the hot stock, about 50ml/3 tbsp at a time, stirring occasionally and letting each addition absorb before adding the next.

Once the rice is cooked (about 20 minutes), add a little extra stock or water, check the seasoning and leave for 5 minutes. Warm your serving bowls. Wash the beet leaves if you have some, strip from the stalks and cook down in a saucepan without any extra water. Place a few leaves in each bowl, spoon in the risotto, top with crumbled goats cheese and sprinkle with chopped dill or chives

What to drink: The pinot noir you used in the recipe. For other risotto pairings see

White or red wine: what's the best pairing for risotto?

And for other beetroot dishes The best wines to pair with beetroot

Extracted from Wine Lover's Kitchen by Fiona Beckett published by Ryland, Peters & Small. Photograph ©Mowie Kay

Warm lamb salad with a pea, mint & feta cheese dressing

A fabulously summery recipe from the very appealing Great British Farmhouse Cookbook - perfect for this time of year.

Unusually it's sponsored by a company - the enterprising Yeo Valley dairy in Somerset - but you don't find their branding all over the recipes which have been put together by Sarah Mayor, the Cordon-Bleu trained daughter of the company's founders Roger and Mary Mead and a farmer's wife herself.

Sarah writes: "We’re not normally huge fans of frozen veg, but with peas we make an exception. They’re normally frozen within minutes of being picked, so they’re actually far tastier than fresh peas that have been hanging around in the fridge for a while."

SERVES 6

1 x 2.5kg leg of lamb, butterflied

2 little gem lettuces, broken into leaves, washed and dried

1/4 cucumber, halved and thinly sliced

salt and freshly ground black pepper

FOR THE MARINADE:

6 tbsp olive oil

the leaves from 2 rosemary sprigs, finely chopped

the leaves from 2 large thyme sprigs, roughly chopped

3 garlic cloves, crushed

finely grated zest and juice of 1 small lemon

FOR THE PEA, MINT AND FETA CHEESE DRESSING:

3 small shallots, very thinly sliced

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

1/4 tsp caster sugar

250g frozen peas

8 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

the leaves from a 20g bunch fresh mint, chopped, plus extra

whole leaves for garnish

200g feta cheese, crumbled

FOR THE GARLIC AND MINT YOGURT:

250g wholemilk natural yogurt

1 garlic clove, crushed

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

2 tbsp finely chopped fresh mint

1. Mix the marinade ingredients together in a large shallow dish with 1 teaspoon each of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add the lamb and turn it over in the mixture a few times until it is well covered. Cover and leave to marinate for at least 4–6 hours, ideally overnight.

2. To make the dressing, put the sliced shallots into a mixing bowl and stir in the vinegar and sugar. Set aside for at least 30 minutes so that the shallots can soften. Cover the peas with warm water and leave them to thaw, then drain well and set to one side. Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas 6.

3. Pop a ridged cast iron griddle over a high heat until smoking hot, then lower the heat to medium-low. Lift the lamb out of the marinade, shaking off the excess, then place it on the griddle and cook for 5-7 minutes on each side until well coloured*. Transfer to a roasting tin, spoon over any remaining marinade and roast for 20-25 minutes. Transfer the meat to a carving board, cover with foil and leave to rest for 5-10 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, tear the lettuce leaves into smaller pieces and scatter them over the base of a large serving platter along with the sliced cucumber. Mix the yogurt ingredients together and season to taste.

5. Add the oil to the shallots and swirl together. Stir in the peas and mint and season to taste.

6. Carve the lamb across into thin slices and pop it on top of the lettuce. Spoon over the pea and mint dressing, scatter over the feta and sprinkle with a few more small mint leaves. Eat straight away with the garlic and mint yogurt.

* the recipe doesn't state this but you could cook the lamb on a barbecue if you had a kettle-style barbecue

Suggested wine match: You could go several ways with this - a light red, a crisp white or a strong dry rosé. Red-wise that could be a Saumur Champigny or another Loire Cabernet Franc, a pinot noir or a juicy red like Mencia from the Bierzo region of northern Spain. Because of the yoghurt and spring vegetables a crisp white such as Sauvignon Blanc would work for those who prefer a white or a crisp dry rosé like Bandol from the South of France would also be delicious.

Extracted from Yeo Valley: The Great British Farmhouse Cookbook by Sarah Mayor (Quadrille £20). Photograph: Andrew Montgomery.

Thanksgiving turkey with a special Italian stuffing

If you haven't yet decided how to cook your Thanksgiving turkey try this fabulous Italian stuffing from ex-pat American food and wine writer Brian St Pierre.

"If you want to do Thanksgiving a little differently, why not look to Italy? Italians took to turkey as no other Europeans did, probably because they saw the bird the way that artists see blank spaces, as something to project their imaginations onto. You see it on menus of even the most exalted restaurants, sliced and stuffed with a spicy filling as involtini, or poached lightly in flavored olive oil, or roasted and stuffed with chestnuts in the autumn, or braised in wine to a juicy tenderness year-round.

To Italians, the idea that anyone would eat such a magnificent food only twice a year, and - even worse - to prepare it pretty much the same way each time, with the same side dishes, seems like absurd self-denial."

Roast turkey stuffed with pancetta and herbs
Serves 12

1 turkey, 10 to12 pounds
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for coating
1 onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound ground pork
8 ounces sweet Italian sausage, removed from casing
2 cups loosely packed cubed sourdough bread without crusts, soaked in 1/2 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon minced fresh sage
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
1 tablespoon minced fresh basil
3 tablespoons pine nuts
1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated Parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons medium-sweet Marsala wine
3 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary
3 ounces pancetta, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4. Rinse and dry the turkey, rub the inside with salt.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a medium large skillet and sauté the onion and half the garlic for about 5 minutes, or until soft. Add the pork and sausage meat. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring well, until it loses its raw pink color. Remove from heat and let cool.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the bread cubes, herbs, pine nuts, Parmesan, and Marsala. Add the meat and mix well. Set this stuffing aside. In a small bowl, combine the rosemary, pancetta, and remaining garlic. Mix well. Loosen the skin of the turkey across the breast, beginning at the back of the bird, by inserting a finger under the skin and running it back and forth side to side, then forward. Insert the rosemary-pancetta mixture under the skin and massage it around forward fairly evenly across the breast meat (it will provide an aromatic, delicious self-baste). Stuff the turkey and skewer the cavity closed.

Place the bird on a rack in a roasting pan and brush or rub the skin liberally with olive oil, then rub with salt and pepper. Roast, basting occasionally with more olive oil and pan juices, for about 3 hours (figuring 18 minutes to the pound) until juices run clear when skin is pricked. Remove from the oven, let rest for 20 minutes loosely covered with foil, and carve.Serve with simple veg, such as caramelized mushrooms and a couple of shallots tossed with lightly steamed green beans and parsley

Brian’s wine suggestion: a lightish red such as Valpolicella, Nerello Mascalese (from Mt. Etna), Cerasuolo di Vittoria (Planeta's is nice); outside Italy, very good Beaujolais, New World Pinot Noir under 14% alcohol. (On a festive day, wine's the accompanist, not the star.)

Brian St Pierre is the restaurant critic of Decanter magazine and the author of The Winelover Cooks Italian. You can also read his writing at foodandwineinlondon.com and stpierre on wine

Image © msheldrake - Fotolia.com