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

One tin cream tea

I would never in a million years have come up with the brilliant idea of baking a scone in a single tin as Great British Bake Off winner Edd Kimber has done in his book One Tin Bakes but then all the recipes can - miraculously - be cooked like that. I can't quite bring myself to call it a slab scone though which doesn't make it sound nearly as enticing as it is. So I've renamed it One tin cream tea (sorry, Edd!).

Edd writes: British folk can’t agree on how to correctly pronounce the word scone or even whether the jam or cream should go on first, so this slab scone will be sacrilege for some, but I love it, as it turns a dainty afternoon tea staple into a perfect summertime dessert.

Of course, I have kept the clotted cream, it is after all one of the best tasting things in the world. For the topping, however, I have lightened it up a tad using fresh macerated strawberries with a little hint of vanilla instead of the more traditional jam.

If you can’t get clotted cream you can also use mascarpone or whipped cream, but just do me one favour, if there is clotted cream available that is made in Devon and you’re not in the UK, then don’t buy it, it will have been sterilized and pasteurized and the flavour is a shadow of the real deal and not worth the disappointment.

SLAB SCONE

SERVES 8–10

FOR THE SLAB SCONE

500g (1lb 2oz/4 cups) self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

50g (1 ¾ oz/ ¼ cup) caster (superfine) sugar

½ teaspoon fine sea salt

finely grated zest of 1 large lemon

150g (5.oz/1â…“ sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and diced

120ml (4fl oz/1/2 cup) whole milk, plus a splash for the egg wash

4 large eggs, beaten

2 tablespoons demerara sugar

FOR THE TOPPING

400g (14oz) fresh strawberries, hulled and halved

25g (1oz/â…› cup) caster (superfine) sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste

340g (11 ¾ oz) clotted cream

Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F), Gas Mark 5. Line the base of the baking tin with a strip of parchment paper, so some excess hangs over the longer side of the tin.

For the slab scone, mix the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and lemon zest together in a large bowl, then rub in the butter until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs with a few larger pieces remaining. Make a well in the middle and pour in the milk and three of the beaten eggs, stirring to form a soft but not sticky dough.

Tip the dough out on to a lightly floured work surface, press or roll into a 23 x 33cm (9 x 13in) rectangle and transfer to the prepared tin. Beat the remaining egg with a splash of milk to form an egg wash, and brush over the top of the scone, then sprinkle liberally with the demerara sugar.

Bake for 20–25 minutes, or until golden brown. Set aside to cool completely in the tin.

Meanwhile, prepare the topping. Place the strawberries intoa large bowl and sprinkle over the sugar and vanilla, stirring together briefly. Leave to macerate for 30 minutes–1 hour, until the sugar has dissolved.

Once cool, remove the scone from the tin, spread the clotted cream all over the scone and then top with the macerated strawberries, drizzling with the syrup that is left in the bottom of the bowl. Cut into portions and serve.

This slab scone is best served on the day it’s made, soon after assembling.

What to drink: Well given that it's essentially a cream tea, a good cuppa, obviously but you could push the boat out and drink a moscato d'asti, an off-dry sparkling rosé or an 'extra-dry' prosecco which, curiously is sweeter than the 'brut' versions.

One Tin Bakes by Edd Kimber is published by Kyle Books. Photograph © Edd Kimber

Honey pastries with baked figs

I love this Spanish twist on baklava from José Pizarro's gorgeous book Andalucia - it would make the perfect end to a summer meal.

José writes: "This is my kind of dessert – packed with interesting flavours, and a stunning centrepiece for the table. It’s hard to beat roasted figs, bursting with sweetness straight from the oven, with just a touch of soft goat’s cheese and honeyfor balance.

NOTE: CONTAINS NUTS

Serves 10–12

125 g (4 ½ oz/2⁄3 cup) caster (superfine) sugar

50 ml (2 fl oz/ ¼ cup) honey

½ teaspoon orange blossom water

225 ml (7 ½ fl oz/scant 1 cup) water

150 g (5 oz) mixed nuts such as walnuts, almonds, pistachios, finely chopped

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

100 g (3 ½ oz) unsalted butter, melted

6–8 sheets of filo pastry

For the figs

8 ripe figs, halved

good drizzle of honey

4 tablespoons Pedro Ximenez sherry

handful of flaked almonds, toasted

To serve

creme fraiche (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F/Gas 4).

In a small saucepan, melt the sugar, honey and orange blossom water with the water, then simmer gently for 10–15 minutes, until slightly reduced and syrupy.

Mix the chopped nuts with the cinnamon. Lightly grease an 18–20 cm (7–8 in) square shallow tin with a little of the melted butter. Lay a sheet of filo in the bottom (trim if necessary) and brush with the butter, scatter with the nuts then add another layer of filo and melted butter.

Repeat 4 times, ending with a final layer of filo. Butter the top generously and use a sharp knife to cut into diamond shapes. Bake for 25–30 minutes, until golden and crisp.

Spoon half of the cooled syrup over the pastries as they come out of the oven. Let stand for 5 minutes, then spoon over the rest of the syrup. Allow to cool completely in the tin.

As the pastries are cooling, place the figs in a small baking dish and drizzle with honey and sherry. Bake in the oven for 15–20 minutes until tender. Serve the pastries with the baked figs and a dollop of creme fraiche, if you like.

What to drink: Although you could drink sherry with this I personally think it would be too much of a good think and would go instead for a Spanish moscatel or other muscat-based dessert wine.

From ANDALUSIA: Recipes from Seville and beyond by José Pizarro (Hardie Grant, £26.00) Photographer: Emma Lee

Breadcrumbed Tomatoes Baked in Cream with Fried Chicken

There are so many recipes I want to make from Claire Thomson's brilliant new book Tomato but this decadent dish of breadcrumbed tomatoes baked in cream with fried chicken, as if you could make it any better, heads the list.

Claire writes "If you are going to go to the trouble of flouring, egging and breadcrumbing an ingredient – or pane, to use the French term – I feel that you might as well get your hands really dirty and process a whole lot.

In this case that means the tomatoes and the chicken, then going one step further and drenching the tomatoes in cream and mustard and baking them as a gratin until bubbling and blistering to serve alongside the fried chicken. A green salad, dressed simply, or some boiled green beans, might be a good serving suggestion.

SERVES 4

2 large, skinless chicken breasts, cut horizontally to about 2cm (3/4in) thick, or 4 boneless and skinless thighs

100ml (3½fl oz) double (heavy) cream

1 small garlic clove, finely chopped

3 thyme or rosemary sprigs, leaves picked and finely chopped

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

5 tablespoons plain (all-purpose) flour

300g (10½oz) panko breadcrumbs (or any other dried breadcrumbs)

3 eggs

500g (1lb 2oz) tomatoes, thickly sliced

6 tablespoons olive oil

30g (1oz) Parmesan, grated (shredded)

30g (1oz) butter

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 lemon, cut into wedges, to serve

1. Using a meat mallet or rolling pin, flatten the chicken breasts out between 2 sheets of baking paper until they are an even 5mm (1/4in) thick. Put to one side.

2. Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/Gas 6.

3. In a bowl or jug mix, together the cream, garlic, herbs and mustard and season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Put to one side.

4. Tip the flour into a wide, shallow bowl and the breadcrumbs into another. In a third bowl, beat the eggs with 2 tablespoons of water.

5. Season the tomatoes with salt and pepper, then dredge them in the flour, tapping off any excess. Dip them into the egg and then coat them in the breadcrumbs and put to one side.

6. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper, then dredge them in the flour, tapping off any excess. Dip the floured chicken pieces in the egg and then coat them with the breadcrumbs. Transfer the pieces to a plate and refrigerate until you’re ready to cook.

7. Heat half the oil in a large frying pan over a high heat. Working in batches, fry the tomatoes for 1–2 minutes on each side, until golden all over. Slide the fried tomatoes out into a baking dish and pour over the cream mixture. Sprinkle with the Parmesan and bake the tomatoes for about 10–15 minutes, until golden and bubbling. Remove from the oven and keep warm.

8. While the tomato gratin is baking, heat the remaining oil and half the butter in a large frying pan over a high heat. When the mixture begins to bubble and foam, add the coated chicken pieces and cook them over a high–moderate heat for about 3 minutes on each side, until crisp and golden and cooked through. Take care not to let the butter burn. If it starts to look like it might, add more to the pan, which should help prevent it turning completely. Remove the pan from the heat and drain thechicken pieces on kitchen paper.

9. Serve the chicken pieces whole, or cut in half or into thick strips, with the tomato gratin alongside and lemon wedges for squeezing over.

What to drink: I always llke a sparkling wine with fried chicken so I'd be tempted by a crémant or an English sparkling wine, maybe. But with those creamy tomatoes a lightly oaked chardonnay such as a Chablis would be good too. Or a Gavi di Gavi

Extracted from TOMATO by Claire Thomson (Quadrille, £22) Photography: Sam Folan. For a couple of Claire's other recipes see Rosemary and Chilli Panisse, and Quinoa fritters with green goddess sauce.