Roast Grouse
Pluck the birds delicately, being careful not to tear the skin. Draw them, and wipe with a soft cloth, but do not wash them. Cut off the heads, and truss them like fowls. Put them into a hot oven, and baste them almost unceasingly. About ten minutes before they are taken up, butter a slice of toast, half an inch thick, lay it in the pan under them, and serve the bird upon this. Send brown sauce and bread sauce to table with them, and browned bread crumbs on a dish. The gravy should be slightly flavored, or it will overpower that of the bird. Time, about half an hour. Sufficient, a brace for four or five persons.
A plain English roast for a lean, fast-cooking bird. The two things that decide the result are oven heat and the fat you keep putting on the breast.
- "Hot oven"Read this as roughly 400-450F. Grouse has almost no fat of its own and a small body; a slow oven dries the breast long before the legs are done.
- Basting is the method, not a flourish"Almost unceasingly" is meant literally in a period recipe with no barding. Either baste with melted butter every few minutes, or lay strips of fatty bacon over the breasts and remove them for the last ten minutes to let the skin colour.
- TimingHalf an hour at that heat suits a full-grown red grouse and will bring it close to well done. Modern practice often runs shorter, around 20-25 minutes with a ten-minute rest, which leaves the breast rosy. If you want the bird cooked through to the 165F the food agencies advise for poultry, expect the breast to be dry, and consider braising an older bird instead.
- The toastThis is the trencher of toast that catches the drippings, sometimes spread with the mashed liver and heart. Half an inch thick is right; anything thinner disintegrates. It goes into the pan under the birds only at the end so it soaks rather than burns.
- Trussing and drawing"Draw" means eviscerate. Trussing "like fowls" is simply tying the legs together and the wings against the body so the bird holds shape. Not washing the bird also matches current advice, which warns that rinsing spreads bacteria around the sink; the original gives no reason of its own.
- A braceTwo birds. The stated yield of four or five people is generous by modern portioning; one grouse per person is the usual serving now, or half a bird if the rest of the meal is substantial.
- The accompanimentsBread sauce is milk infused with onion and clove, thickened with breadcrumbs; the browned crumbs are a separate dish, fried in butter until crisp, and are scattered over. Brown sauce here is a light meat gravy, deliberately underseasoned so it does not mask the bird.
- SourcingWild grouse is seasonal and regulated, and is not sold year-round. In Britain what reaches a market is usually red grouse in autumn; in North America ruffed grouse is normally a shot bird taken under licence rather than a market item. Weights vary enough that the timing above should be checked against the size of the bird in front of you.