Game Cookery

Don’t worry if your bag contains birds of a more elderly stature, as you can still fashion some tasty treats from them, writes Tim Maddams

Old grouse, much maligned in my opinion, do indeed require slightly more thoughtful care and attention in the kitchen than their younger offspring. This always makes me think traditionally, and I have basically stuck with the same thought process throughout my career — braising or slow-cooking older birds. This is mostly done to break down the toughness, but boredom sets in after a while and you start looking for new and exciting alternatives.

Grouse thighs work best for this particular recipe as they are, to my mind, like mini chicken wings. It’s also a great use of the tougher meat of older birds. The clever bit of this recipe is the marinade of milk and lemon juice. This allows the meat to be softened by the lactose and the citric acid. You are supposed to use buttermilk, but I never have it in the house and this workaround seems to work very well indeed. Once the grouse thighs have been marinated in the milk and citrus combo for at least an hour or two (but best left overnight, if possible) the recipe is simplicity itself, although you will be required to deep fry the grouse if you have the facilities.

The barbecue sauce is far and away the hardest thing to make. Almost every shop

“The recipe is simplicity itself, although you will be required to deep fry the grouse”

version is a bit too sweet for my taste and so I make my own. The example here is a fairly basic version, but you can embellish it with all sorts of things. You can make it Asian-style with the addition of ginger and seven spice, you can swing it more fruity with the addition of some date paste and grated cooking apple — it’s up to you, really. Do make the effort to make your own though. It keeps well and tastes way better than most shop-bought options.