Grouse Three Ways

Three for the price of one! Having never cooked grouse before, I decided to hedge my bets and make two little appetizers and a third, longer cooking dish. We enjoyed all the dishes, but I think my favorite is the first one.

These grouse were field dressed, then soaked in salt water for several hours and cleaned again. After that, I mostly just treated them like chicken (speaking of which, grouse stock? Sound good? Maybe this weekend).

Bacon-Jalapeno Grouse Rolls

Ingredients

breast of grouse, cut into strips
bacon, extra fat removed, cut the same size as the grouse
sliced jalapeno
flour
olive oil
toothpicks

Lay the grouse strips onto the bacon strips. Place a jalapeno slice at one end and roll into a small package. Hold together with a toothpick. Dredge lightly in flour and brown in the oil till cooked through.

Salsa Grouse

Ingredients

breast of grouse, cut into strips
flour
olive oil
salsa

Dredge the strips in flour, brown in oil. Combine with salsa and simmer until cooked through.

Braised Grouse

Ingredients

meat from 2 grouse, cut into bite-sized chunks
flour
salt
pepper
ground red pepper
olive oil
1/2 c chicken stock
1 c white wine
rosemary
sage

Preheat oven to 350. Combine flour, salt, pepper, and red pepper. Dredge the meat in the flour and brown in oil. Move grouse to an oven-safe pot. In the skillet, bring the stock, wine, and herbs to a boil. Pour over the meat. Cover and bake for 1 hour. Serve over rice. Or biscuits, if you are lazy and don't want to make rice.