To celebrate the start of the grouse shooting season, the wonderful team at Eat Wild have shared an appetite-whetting recipe for pan-fried grouse breast. And to whet your sporting appetite, Eat Wild’s fundraising auction is now live and runs until 30 August (details below).
Eat Wild is the UK marketing board for wild meat, connecting conservation with the catering and hospitality industries. Their passionate team is dedicated to promoting the consumption of wild meat in the UK, ensuring that all game harvested through rural pursuits goes from field to fork.
They champion high-quality British wild game, produced to the highest standards of welfare, sustainability, and responsible countryside management. Their mission is to showcase wild game in a modern and accessible way while promoting its provenance, versatility, and exceptional quality.
From NHS trusts to Sunderland FC, read more about their success stories.
The aforementioned fundraising auction features some fabulous lots, including the chance to join a wild English partridge day at the Duke of Norfolk’s estate and many other shooting and fishing opportunities. To see all the lots, click here.
Served with vibrant purple carrots, a simple puree, and creamy Albert sauce, this lightly herby, pan-fried grouse looks like something straight from a restaurant kitchen. You’ll need to set a bit of time aside, but it’s easy to cook – try it on a Saturday night.
Method
Trim any excess skin from the grouse and seal in a hot frying pan skin side down, turning once the skin is crisp.
Add 30g of the butter, a garlic clove and a sprig of thyme to an ovenproof dish with the grouse, then cook the grouse at 180°C for around 7 minutes. Take out and leave to rest.
Finely dice the shallots and cook gently in 25g of the unsalted butter until soft. Add the white wine and reduce until almost gone, then add the double cream, horseradish cream and mustard. Cook until the sauce thickens. Stir the breadcrumbs, lemon juice and a touch of nutmeg into the sauce to finish.
To prepare the puree, peel and roughly chop the orange carrots into a pan with 300ml of water then gently simmer until soft. Drain the water, add a small amount of double cream and blitz in a food blender until pureed.
Spit the purple carrots in half lengthways and fry in a lightly oiled pan until golden brown.
To serve, spoon a portion of the puree onto a plate and rest the grouse breast over the top. Arrange the carrot around the grouse and finish with a good spoonful of the sauce.