Roast grouse, spelt, kale, squash, sweet and sour blackberries

(Serves 4)

2 whole grouse or partridge, breast and legs removed (ask your game dealer to do this) 100g haggis rolled into 4 balls 200g spelt 400ml water 2 small white onions, finely diced Rapeseed oil 3 medium sized Jerusalem artichokes, peeled and finely diced (if you chop in advance, you will need to keep them from oxidising by plunging in a bowl of water with some lemon juice added) Top ½ butternut squash, peeled and cut into ½ cm discs 100g of curly kale, ripped into florets A punnet of fresh brambles 100ml red wine vinegar 50ml of runny honey Unsalted butter 150ml double cream

Method: Take the legs of the birds and place in a heavy-bottomed pan, completely cover them with oil and cook very slowly at 70°C for two hours. Leave submerged in the hot oil until serving.

In a medium hot, deep sauté pan, gently sweat half the onion with a little rapeseed oil. When they have sweated to clear, add the 300g of spelt. Coat in the oil and then add cold water to cover. Then bring to the boil and season with Hebridean sea salt and ground white pepper and cook gently. Add two freshly peeled and finely diced Jerusalem artichoke to the spelt mix, and then simmer the whole lot for 16-18 minutes untill cooked through.Top up the water as required to prevent the mixture drying out while it’s cooking.

Once it is cooked through and all the water is absorbed, put the pan to one side.

Prepare the butternut squash by cooking in a very hot oven at 230°C. Put the slices onto an oiled baking sheet and roast for around 12 minutes. I like to use Rapeseed oil.

Meanwhile, deep fry the ripped curly kale leaves until crispy, retaining their vivid green colour. Drain well and keep to one side.

Thinly slice the remaining artichoke and deep fry until golden and crispy, drain and set aside.

For the sweet and sour brambles, blitz half the punnet of brambles in a food processor, adding a pinch of caster sugar. Sauté the rest of the finely diced onion, and sweat it in a heavy-bottomed pan, such as a sauté pan, adding 100ml of red wine vinegar, then bring to the boil and reduce by half. Add 50ml of runny honey and bring back to the boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the puréed brambles. Slice the remaining brambles horizontally and stir into the vinegar, honey and puréed bramble mix. In a hot sauté pan, fry the bird breasts skin side down and the haggis balls in unsalted butter for 45 seconds. Turn and brown on the underside for a further 20 seconds, then turn back over. Put the whole pan with the breasts and haggis balls into a hot oven (230°C) and cook for just two minutes. Take the pan out of the oven and remove the grouse breasts and haggis balls and leave somewhere warm and allow to rest for 3 minutes.

‘Every single member of the team has a voice and a part to play in our guests’ experience’

Meanwhile add 150ml of double cream to the pan and put back onto the heat and add the cooked spelt and reheat. Season as required.

To serve: Place a warm disc of butternut squash onto the plate and top with a spoonful of the spelt, place a grouse leg onto the spelt along with some crispy kale and an artichoke crisp. Carve the grouse breast and place on top of the spelt. To the side serve a haggis ball and then drizzle the plate with the sweet and sour brambles.