Roast grouse with creamed salsify, bacon and cèpe tortellini – by Peter Wood
Ingredients (Serves four)
4 whole grouse
For the sauce
1/2 bottle white wine
4 shallots, finely sliced
3 sprigs thyme
1 bay leaf
3 cloves garlic
500ml good veal jus
200ml chicken stock
50ml olive oil
For the tortellini
200g chicken mousseline
100g sauted cèpes
3g picked thyme
50g smoked bacon, sauted and chopped
400g fresh pasta dough
200g cooked wild mushroom duxelle
For the creamed salsify
6 sticks of salsify, peeled and cooked in a blanc
150ml of double cream
Seasoning
Method For the sauce, sweat shallots in oil in a heavy-based pan until transparent. Add herbs and wine. Reduce by two-thirds.
Add 250ml of the veal jus and 100ml of the chicken stock and reduce by half.
Repeat with remaining stock and jus.
Brush grouse with oil, season and roast in a hot oven. Carve breast, remove legs and add the chopped carcasses to the sauce to achieve more grouse flavour. Cook for another 10 minutes, remove the sauce from heat and pass through a fine chinois.
For the bacon and cèpe tortellini, mix together the mousse, thyme, cèpes, bacon and season. Roll pasta dough on machine as finely as possible.
Cut four discs, 12cm in diameter. On each disc, place 40g of mousse mix, egg wash and fold pasta over to form a semi-circle. Press pasta down tightly around the mixture and leave no holes.
Bring in the two corners to form a "belly button" shape and poach the tortellinis for 2-3 minutes. Refresh in iced water.
Reheat the duxelle, arrange on the plate and place the tortellini on top.
For the creamed salsify, cut the cooked salsify into 8cm batons. Place the cream into a heavy-based pan and reduce until thick; add salsify and reheat gently. Season.
To serve, arrange tortellini on the duxelle, drain salsify and place neatly on the plate. Place the grouse on top and sauce around.
If you wish, the dish can be served with some small roasted shallots.
Peter Woods is head chef at Allium in Pimlico, London. Tel: 020 7798 6767
