Pan-fried grouse breast with blackberry sauce

Ingredients

6 grouse breast fillets
2 large parsnips, thinly sliced with a grater
1 onion, thinly sliced
75ml stock
½ tbs balsamic vinegar
150g whole blackberries
12 rashers pancetta
3 tbs crème de cassis
2-3 large handfuls of mixed salad leaves

www.wildandgame.co.uk

Serves 2

Take the grouse fillets out of the fridge an hour or so before cooking to get them to room temperature.

Heat about 15ml of vegetable oil in a frying pan. Fry the parsnip strips, then the onion, taking them out when golden and placing them separately on kitchen paper to crisp as they cool. Sprinkle them with salt.

In a pan, start heating the stock, balsamic and most of the blackberries (keep a few back for garnishing the salad). Cook these for about 10 minutes until the blackberries can be broken up easily with a spoon.

Wrap each grouse breast in 2 slices of pancetta. Pour most of the oil out of the frying pan to leave just a thin layer. Heat this up again and fry each grouse breast for 2 minutes each side on a fairly high heat until the bacon has browned, then turn the heat down and cook for a further 5 minutes, turning once.  Add the cassis and cook for 2 more minutes, turning the grouse once, then remove and set aside to rest.

Add the stock, balsamic and blackberry mix to the pan. Cook, stirring, for a couple of minutes until you have a glossy sauce.

Place the grouse breasts on the plate with the salad leaves. Top with the onions and parsnips, drizzle with the sauce, and serve.