A hazel grouse dish can be a decoration for any table, even the most solemn one. After all, this small bird is rightfully considered more valuable game than wood grouse, black grouse, pheasant, partridge.
Delicate, white-pinkish hazel grouse meat literally melts in your mouth. The most delicious hazel grouse is fried, stewed and baked, although soups from it are also good. When cooking, you should try not to overdry the meat, otherwise the dish will taste worse.
Grouse baked with wild berries
To prepare a delicious grouse dish, you will need 1 grouse carcass, about 1.5 cups of lingonberries or cranberries (fresh or soaked), 1-2 teaspoons of granulated sugar, a small piece of butter, about 200 grams of sour cream.
If you have lingonberries, use 1 teaspoon of sugar when cooking, and if you have more acidic cranberries, use 2 teaspoons.
Fill the prepared grouse carcass with berries sprinkled with sugar, put a piece of butter inside. Lightly brush the carcass with sour cream, place on a greased baking sheet with high sides or on a roaster, and place in an oven heated to about 200-220 ° C.
When the carcass is golden brown, add all the remaining sour cream to a baking sheet or rooster, reduce the oven temperature to about 140-150 ° C and cook the hazel grouse for about 20 minutes more. When serving, pour the resulting sauce over the carcass, then the hazel grouse will be especially tender and tasty.
Fried hazel grouse recipe
Take 1 carcass of hazel grouse, about 50-60 grams of lard, the same amount of butter, salt and ground black pepper to taste. Immerse the processed carcass in boiling water for 1 minute, then dry thoroughly. Make deep punctures in the carcass with the tip of a narrow knife, stuff with pieces of bacon, salt, lightly pepper. You do not need to stuff the hazel grouse with pieces of bacon, but cut the bacon into thin wide strips, put them on the outside of the breast of the carcass and tie it with threads.
Fry the carcass in a rooster or saucepan in heated butter. After the formation of a golden crust, reduce the heat to low, cover the dishes with a lid and bring the hazel grouse until cooked. Remove the hazel grouse from the container, cut in half and transfer to a dish. Drain the grease from the dishes. Then add some hot water to the bowl and boil. Throw in a piece of butter in the same place, stir until it is completely dissolved in the meat juice, pour the halves of hazel grouse with this mixture and serve. An excellent side dish for this dish will be soaked lingonberries or pickled plums. Some kind of jam with a sour taste will also work well.
