Ingredients
(Serves four)
4 young grouse, plucked and drawn
4 cloves garlic
1tsp juniper berries
1 small Savoy cabbage, finely shredded
60ml olive oil
60g clarified butter
150ml chicken stock
2 large red rooster potatoes
1 pear
100g wild mushrooms (eg, chanterelles)
15g watercress leaves
100g diced carrots, onions and celery
200ml red wine
350ml dark chicken or grouse stock
Salt and pepper to season
Method
Remove the legs from the grouse. Stuff with one clove of garlic, a crushed juniper berry and season. Sear on all sides and roast at 210°C for about six minutes. Rest for six minutes. (If we were serving this at the restaurant, we'd take the legs off the carcass, remove the thigh bone, remove the breasts from the crown and trim. But you can of course serve it whole.)
Put 60ml of olive oil into a pan on full heat until smoking. Cook the cabbage in the oil until wilted. Add 150ml chicken stock, 2tbs double cream and reduce until the sauce has reached an emulsion consistency. Season.
For the potato röstis, parboil the potatoes, grate, add a little clarified butter, spoon into a rösti tray and bake until crisp. For the caramelised pear, peel, core and slice one pear then add to a hot skillet with olive oil and butter and fry until caramelised on all sides. Sauté wild mushrooms in remaining butter then finish with a knob of butter and picked watercress and season.
For the jus, caramelise chopped grouse trimmings (including legs) in hot oil. Add diced carrots, onion and celery and remaining juniper berries and caramelise, then quickly add 200ml red wine, 350ml dark chicken stock and reduce to a sauce consistency before sieving and seasoning. Before service add fresh picked redcurrant berries to the jus.
by Stevie McLaughlan, head chef, Andrew Fairlie@Gleneagles, Auchterarder, Perthshire