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By Kate Gatacre
Monday, 17 September 2007
Kate Gatacre meets Chris Galvin, a chef who believes in waiting for the finest seasonal ingredients - especially game.
Preparing the grouse
Pluck the grouse, taking care not to damage the skin.
Once plucked, cut the neck off, preserving as much of the skin as possible, and remove the wishbone.
Cut off the parson's nose and take out the innards.
Keep the liver for the pâté.
Cut the wings off at the joint and keep for the sauce.
Lay good-quality streaky bacon over the top of the breast and truss the bird so that the bacon won't fall off.
PÂTÉ
- 100g chicken livers
- the grouse liver
- salt and pepper
- butter
- one shallot
- one sprig of thyme
- 50ml brandy
- 20ml Madeira
- 10ml port
METHOD
Season the livers and place in a pan with butter to cook lightly. Once cooked, leave to cool. Sweat the shallots and thyme for a minute or two.
Deglaze the pan with the alcohol and reduce.
Add 20g of butter, place everything in a blender and blitz. Fold in some breadcrumbs if a little wet and check the seasoning.
Croûtons
Cut a disk of brioche or good white bread and fry in clarified butter until golden brown on both sides.
Cocottes
Take some small potatoes, peel them and cut them so that they look like small barrels. Place in a casserole with thyme and garlic, and roast (on the hob) until just browning. Add some butter and place in an oven at 180°C until cooked and golden brown.
Peas
Blanch some peas in salted water until tender. Dice some streaky bacon and crisp up in a pan. In another pan, sweat some button onions in butter.
Add some well-flavoured chicken stock and bring to the boil. Simmer for six to eight minutes. When cooked, take the onions out of the stock and reduce the stock by half.
Add some carrot slices and, once those are cooked, add the peas. Mix together a knob of butter and some flour to make a paste and add to the stock.
Whisk till smooth, add the crispy bacon and some finely shredded lettuce and bring to the boil. Check the seasoning and serve.
Sauce
Take any grouse trimmings and place in the oven to brown with a little oil. In a separate pan, brown some finely chopped shallots and diced carrots, then add garlic and thyme.
Once the bones have browned in the oven, drain any fat and deglaze the roasting pan with port and red wine.
Reduce the liquor, and scrape all the goodness left in the pan. Add this and the bones to the shallots, cover with veal or chicken stock and cook for two hours.
Skim the sauce every now and then. Once cooked, pass through a fine sieve. Reduce the sauce so that it coats the back of a spoon.
When ready to serve whisk two knobs of cold butter into the sauce to thicken it and give a rich, silky shine.
To serve
Brown the grouse on all sides. Add salted butter and place in the oven at 180°C, turning halfway through cooking.
Once cooked to your taste, take the bird out of the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Carve the grouse down its back and then around the carcase, keeping the legs and breast attached.
Pop the leg out and cut the bird in two. Trim and serve with the vegetables, pâté on a croûton and sauce.
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