Roasted Grouse with a Crimini-Portobello Cream Sauce Recipe

Roasted grouse is one of my all-time favorite game recipes. But what’s equally important is not only what you eat, but where it comes from. This particular grouse came from an elk hunt, on a hunt

made possible by social media.

Ryan and I met via a Facebook hunting group and planned an archery elk hunt together. We decided on a quick day hunt and went after it in an area we both knew well. 5+ miles up and down steep canyons, deep snow, hiking all over the mountain, and we didn’t see or hear an elk once. But, we stumbled upon a grouse, an elk hunt became a grouse hunt, and I was lucky enough to connect on a headshot with one of my small game heads at 20 yards. Just like that, I bagged my first grouse.

Even something as common as a grouse deserves to be fully utilized. I ate every last bit of it, kept the wings for dog training, additional feathers for fly tying, and the tail fan is drying as we speak to be hung on my wall as a memento to a memorable hunt.

 

INGREDIENTS

Grouse:
4 grouse, dusky or ruffed
4 Tbsp. butter, softened
8 strips bacon

Sauce:
2 Tbsp. butter
20 oz. cremini and portobello mushrooms, trimmed and sliced thin
1 shallot, minced
1 cup  chicken stock
3 sprigs thyme
12 cup creme (or creme fraiche)
(or)
1 Tbsp. bourbon
1 Tbsp. fresh thyme leaves, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

 

DIRECTIONS

1. PREPARE YOUR GROUSE: Trim off the wing tips, tail, and pull out the feathers against the grain. Pluck all feathers from your grouse, and use a lighter or torch to singe off the remaining down on the skin. Gut your birds, rinse thoroughly, and then pat dry with a paper towel.

2. ROAST YOUR GROUSE: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Rub each bird with softened butter. Salt and pepper, especially inside the body cavity. Wrap 2-3 bacon slices around each grouse, depending on how big your birds and bacon slices are. If your bacon doesn’t stay in place, tie it with butcher’s twine. Set each bird in a roasting pan. Roast in the oven until the grouse is browned and bacon is crisping, about 25 minutes. Remove to a plate and let rest, covered loosely in tinfoil, while you make the sauce. Resting your birds is critical to the proper distribution of the juices within the meat.

3. MAKE YOUR SAUCE: Melt 2 Tbsp. butter in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the sliced mushrooms and a dash of salt and saute, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms release the majority of their moisture and begin to smell fragrant. This should only take about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and add the minced shallot. Saute until softened, and until most of the moisture has gone out of the pan, about 4 minutes. Add the chicken stock and thyme sprigs and simmer until the liquid is reduced by half. Pour in the cream and bourbon and simmer until the sauce thickens. Should take about 3-5 minutes.

4. SERVE IT UP: Spread the sauce onto your plates, and rest a grouse in the center of each. Sprinkle thyme over each bird.

 

SERVES 4