Our Favorite Grouse Recipe

This is the grouse meal we wait all year for, the one My Dear One keeps saying "You know how you make that grouse? With the wine and stuff? That's my favorite ever." And I nod and smile at the compliment of my culinary prowess, even though I know in reality he says this because if he ever wants to eat the same meal again in this house of constant never-eat-the-same-thing-twice rotation, he needs to make a special point to say so.

Grouse season in our house goes something like this: hubby packs up the truck, kisses me goodbye, and heads out to the fields with his brother while I stay home with the two-year-old (very 1883 homesteader housewife, I know, sans six more kids).  He then returns home with more stubble than usual, smelling of fresh air and sage, the coldness of the fall wafting in our warm kitchen with him when he walks in the door, that same chill sticking to his skin and embedded in his clothing.  In the back of the pick-up sits our happily weary Springer and a cooler of dead birds, basking in blood-tinted water.  He shares stories of the hunt while our child climbs into the back of the truck, excited to play "puppy" by caging himself in our portable dog kennel.  With that scene, surely we must look like Parents of the Year to any passers-by.

Whatever he brings home from the hunt, whether it be birds or venison, we always try to enjoy some of it fresh instead of freezing it all right away. As he cleaned the birds, instead of just cutting out the breast meat, I asked for the whole birds (or at least as whole as is reasonable with these small winged creatures) and the hearts, too.  We froze the hearts and a couple birds, and I prepared three fresh birds using, yes, Our Favorite Grouse Recipe.

But it doesn't stop there, oh no.  After dinner, I had three perfectly good grouse carcasses left on the plate. Time to make stock.

I placed them in a pot along with an onion cut in half, a bay leaf, and some peppercorns, covered it all with water, and let it simmer for a couple hours, creating grouse stock.  Then, after making the stock, I figured, what the hell, let's make soup. So I browned some Italian venison sausage, added the stock along with cubed potatoes, and let that simmer until the potatoes softened.  Then I added some chopped kale, cooked a few minutes long, seasoned with salt and pepper to taste and voilá - homemade soup for dinner tomorrow.

PS - not quite sure what I'm going to do with those grouse hearts, but you know I'll keep you updated.

Grouse with Tomatoes and Rosemary
I've posted this before, with a few tweaks, but I figure it's worth revisiting. Serve it with crusty bread to soak up the juice.

3 or 4 grouse, cleaned
Kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper
3 Tbls olive oil
2 cloves minced garlic
1 small red onion, chopped
1 cup dry red wine
1 cup chicken broth
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 fresh tomatoes, diced
2 Tablespoons butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Rinse grouse, pat dry, season generously with salt and pepper. Heat oil in Dutch oven and brown the grouse (no need to cook through, just brown the outside). Add garlic and onion, saute for one minute. Add wine, broth, rosemary, and tomatoes, cover the pot, and place in the oven for 45 minutes, or until juices from bird run clear. Remove rosemary sprigs and discard. Remove grouse and set on platter (can put in 200 degree oven to keep warm). Bring the remaining liquid to a boil and reduce by half, about 15 minutes. Turn off heat, whisk in butter, and serve grouse drizzled with sauce.