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Grouse, Roasted

From Mrs. Beeton's household management (1907).

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A historical recipe

Mrs. Beeton's household management, by Mrs. (Isabella Mary) Beeton (1907).

United Kingdom

Known as a British recipe, with similar versions prepared across other nations.

From an old book: a historical recipe, not current advice. Its methods, additives and storage may be unsafe by today's standards. Printed in United Kingdom: that says where the book was made, not where the dish comes from.

Ingredients 1 ingredient

  1. 2 slices of toast

Cook safely

Keep children and pets away from the hob and the oven, and keep oven gloves and a lid within reach.

  • Hot oil. Never put water on an oil fire: turn off the heat and cover the pan with a lid or a damp tea towel. Pat food dry before it goes into hot oil, and lower it in gently, away from you.
  • Oven and hot trays. Use dry oven gloves for trays and dishes: a hot tray looks just like a cold one. Open the oven door away from your face and let the first rush of heat out.
  • Sharp knives. Cut on a board that doesn't slip (a damp cloth under it helps), and curl the fingers of the hand that holds the food.

Method

  1. Ingredients.
  2. — A brace of grouse, 2 slices of toast, butter, good brown gravy, bread sauce, No.
  3. 180 (see Gravies and Sauces), fried breadcrumbs, bacon.
  4. Method.
  5. — Let the birds hang in a cool dry place for 3 or 4 days.
  6. When ready for use, pluck, draw, and truss them in the same manner as roast chicken.
  7. Tie over each breast a thin slice of bacon, and roast before a clear fire from 30 to 35 minutes, basting frequently with butter.
  8. When nearly done remove the bacon, dredge with flour, and baste well to give the birds a nice brown appearance.
  9. Toast the bread lightly, and when the birds are about f cooked, put it into the dripping-tin to catch the gravy that drops from them.
  10. Dish on the toast, and serve the gravy, bread sauce and bread crumbs separately.
  11. Time.
  12. — From 40 to 45 minutes.
  13. Average Cost, from 43.
  14. the brace.
  15. Seasonable from August 12 to December 10.
  16. THE RUFFLED GROUSE.
  17. — This bird is a native of North America, and is so named from the curious velvet-black tufts of feathers on its shoulders.
  18. The plumage of the back is a rich chestnut, and its tail is grey, barred with black.
  19. THE PINNATED GROUSE, also called the Prairie Hen, frequents the open desert plains of North America.
  20. The male has two winged- like appendages on the neck, covering two loose orange-coloured sacs which the bird can inflate at pleasure.
  21. Its plumage is brown, marked with black and white.
  22. THE SAND GROUSE, (Pterocles bicinctus), is chiefly an inhabitant of the warm sandy regions of Africa and Central Asia.
  23. It is longer in the legs than the ordinary grouse, and the tarsi are covered with feathers, the toes are short and connected at the base by a membrane.
  24. The wings and tail are pointed.
  25. The colour of the sand grouse is of a sandy hue, whence its name, resembling the sands of the desert where it dwells.
  26. A vast flock of these birds in 1863 and again in 1888, crossed the North Sea and visited Europe, settling in Britain and the Faroe Islands.

Plating

Cookware for this recipe

  • Frying pan
  • Chef's knife
  • Cutting board
  • Pastry brush
Source public domain per archive.org metadata; unverified
Credit

From Mrs. Beeton's household management (1907), printed page 740, digitised by the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/mrsbeetonshouse00beetuoft

What was changed: Read by machine from the book's scanned text into ingredients and method. The title's capitals were tidied; spelling and scanning errors are left as they are.