Grouse with beetroot two ways recipe

Details

• Cuisine: French
• Recipe Type: Grouse
• Difficulty: Medium
• Preparation Time: 25 mins
• Cooking Time: 250 mins
• Serves: 4

Step-by-step

1. Heat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
2. Cover the base of a metal roasting tin with rock salt and place in the whole, unpeeled heritage, candy and golden beetroot.
3. Cover tightly with kitchen foil and cook for 1.5 hours.
4. Meanwhile, blitz the mint and olive oil together in a blender.
5. When the oil starts to separate, pass through a cloth or a very fine sieve and chill until serving.
6. Heat an oven-proof pan on very high heat and add the grouse breasts skin side down. Make sure not to overcrowd the pan – you can either cook the breasts in batches or use two pans.
7. When the skin is browned, turn, then add butter, garlic and thyme to the pan and transfer to the oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Turn up the oven to 220°C (430°F) before adding the grouse.
8. When ready, remove the grouse from the pan, cover with foil and let it rest for about 10 minutes.
9. Remove the beetroot from the oven, let them cool a bit and peel. Thickly slice all, apart from the four purple beetroot.

For the puréed beetroot:

1. Place the grated beetroot in a pot, cover with port and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce to low heat, cover with foil, add a lid and simmer for 2–3 hours. Top up with water, if necessary, to keep the liquid at the same level throughout cooking.
3. When done, strain the liquid through and blitz the beetroot in a blender. If the purée is very thick, add a little liquid.
4. If you prefer a very smooth purée, pass it through a sieve.
5. You can make this ahead of time, chill and heat through before serving.

To plate:

1. Arrange the multi-coloured beetroot slices, alternating the colours.
2. Dot blobs of the beetroot puree on the beetroot.
3. Arrange the grouse breasts parallel to the beetroot, slightly overlapping one another.
4. Slice the top of the whole purple beetroot off, add a dot of beetroot purée and replace the top. Place in the middle of the plate.
5. Add dots of mint oil around the plate.
6. Garnish with micro herbs.