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Grouse with beetroot, blueberries and foie gras

by Hélène Darroze
  1. Grouse with beetroot, blueberries and mole jus
Item 1 of 1
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
5.00

This incredibly complex grouse recipe goes to show just how much work goes into each dish at Hélène Darroze's two-starred restaurant at The Connaught. Grouse breasts and legs are covered in a beetroot, cacao nib and tapioca crumble, served alongside roasted beetroot, beetroot purée, fermented blueberries, a foie gras parfait and rich grouse jus. Certainly a recipe for only the most ambitious home cook, so if you're going to give it a go read through the recipe thoroughly and come up with a plan of action!

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Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Grouse

Fermented blueberries

Beetroot purée

Tapioca chips

  • 40g of tapioca flour
  • 30ml of water
  • 1 drop of olive oil
  • 1.5g of sea salt

Beetroot powder

Beetroot crumble

Grouse jus

Foie gras parfait

Cylindra beetroot

To garnish

  • rose petals, pickled (can be bought online from specialist retailers)
  • 1 beetroot, peeled and very finely sliced on a mandoline
SAVE RECIPE

Equipment

  • Sous vide or water bath
  • Chamber sealer
  • Thermomix or blender
  • Piping bags
  • Deep-fryer

Method

1
Start by preparing the blueberries at least 6 days before you plan on serving the dish. Add the blueberries and salt to a vacuum bag and seal. Set aside at room temperature for 6 days, then place in the fridge or freezer to stop the fermentation process
2
Prepare the grouse the day before serving the dish. Remove the heads, wings, legs, neck, intestines and wishbones from each grouse. Discard the intestines, wings and head. Reserve the necks, wishbones and the base of the backbone for the jus. Place the crowns in the fridge
3
Preheat a water bath to 75°C
4
Cut all but one toe from each leg and remove the thigh bones. Holding the rest of the legs above the water bath, blanch the feet for a few seconds. Whilst still warm, and using a wet cloth, pull the feathers and hard skin off of the feet. Rub the legs with a little salt and place in vacuum bags with 100g of the duck fat, then seal. Cook in the water bath for 12 hours, then remove the bags and chill quickly in an ice bath before transferring to the fridge
5
Turn the temperature of the water bath up to 95°C
6
To make the beetroot purée, peel and slice the beetroot very thinly and add to a vacuum bag. Add the beetroot juice and seal using a chamber sealer. Cook in the water bath for 3 hours until very overcooked, then transfer the beetroots to a blender and blitz with the xanthan gum and sherry vinegar, adding some of the liquid from the bags if needed to get a nice consistency. Pass the purée through a fine sieve and season to taste
7
Preheat a steam oven to 100°C, at 100% steam
8
To make the tapioca chips, combine all the ingredients with 13g of the beetroot purée in a saucepan (reserve the rest of the purée for plating) and bring to the boil. Lay a sheet of ovenproof cling film on a tray and pour the mixture over the top, spreading it out thinly. Lay another sheet of cling film on top, then place in the steam oven for 10 minutes
  • 40g of tapioca flour
  • 30ml of water
  • 1 drop of olive oil
  • 1.5g of sea salt
9
While this is in the oven, prepare the beetroot for the beetroot powder, as both can be dried at the same time. Peel and finely slice the beetroot on a mandoline, then lay out the slices on a dehydrator mat
10
Remove the sheet of tapioca beetroot from the oven and peel away from the cling film. Lay out on a sheet of silicone paper and place in a dehydrator set to 50°C, along with the beetroot slices for the powder. Allow both to dry out completely, for around 12 hours
11
Once the crisp is dry, preheat a deep-fryer filled with vegetable oil to 200°C. Deep-fry the tapioca sheet for a few minutes until crisp. Drain on kitchen paper and set aside in an airtight container. Once the beetroot slices are dry, blitz quickly in a Thermomix or high-power blender until a fine powder is achieved and set aside
12
Turn the temperature of the deep-fryer down to 140°C
13
To make the beetroot crumble, peel and slice the beetroot very thinly on a mandoline. Deep-fry the slices for a few minutes, then leave to drain on kitchen paper. Once dry, finely chop. Chop the tapioca chips to the same consistency and size as the beetroot crumb. Mix together the beetroot crumb, tapioca chips and cacao nibs to a ratio of 100:50:50 respectively and season
14
To make the chicken jus, chop the grouse neck, other reserved grouse bones and chicken wings into rough 2cm pieces. Roast in a pan until golden brown, then add the shallots, garlic, thyme, and butter, and continue to roast until the shallots are cooked. Deglaze with the chicken stock, cook for 30 minutes, then pass through a fine sieve lined with muslin into a clean pan. Reduce to a syrupy consistency
15
To make the foie gras parfait, blend all the ingredients together in a Thermomix or another high-powered blender until the mixture reaches 50°C (you need a blender that either has a heating element, or one that blends so powerfully that it heats its contents if blending for a long time). Pass through a chinois into a bowl set over ice and, once cool, transfer to a piping bag and place in the fridge until ready to serve
16
Preheat an oven to 240°C/gas mark 9
17
For the Cylindra beetroot, peel the beetroot, transfer to a tray and roast in the oven, turning it every 20 minutes until charred. Remove from the oven and peel away the first burned layer of skin from the beetroot with a turning knife. Cut the beetroots into 10 long, neat wedges and keep warm (or gently reheat before serving)
18
When you’re almost ready to serve, cut the fermented blueberries into small pieces and set aside. Gently warm the beetroot purée and grouse jus
19
Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4
20
To roast the grouse crowns, add the remaining 100g of duck fat to an ovenproof frying pan set over a medium-high heat. Once hot, add the crowns and sear all over until nicely caramelised. Transfer the pan to the oven for cook through for 3-4 minutes, then allow to rest in a warm place for at least 5 minutes before carving (you can colour the crowns on a barbecue if preferred)
21
Remove the grouse legs from their bags and heat a frying pan over a medium-high heat. Once hot, add the legs to the pan and quickly sear until nicely coloured all over (you can also do this on a barbecue if desired)
22
Now plate the dish. Starting at twelve o'clock, create a long swipe of beetroot purée using the side of a spoon. To the right, pipe a dot of foie gras parfait and place the roasted beetroot below it. Sprinkle some beetroot powder on top of the foie gras and place a single pickled rose petal on top of the beetroot
  • rose petals, pickled (can be bought online from specialist retailers)
23
Place a quenelle of the chopped fermented blueberries to the left of the purée using two teaspoons, and top with a raw slice of beetroot. Cover the top of each roasted breast with the crumble, then place below the blueberrries. Finish by spooning some jus onto each plate. Serve the grilled leg on the side, again covered with more of the beetroot crumble
  • 1 beetroot, peeled and very finely sliced on a mandoline
First published in 2020
Hélène Darroze

As a fourth-generation chef, cooking was always going to be in Hélène Darroze’s blood. Now at the helm of two Michelin-starred restaurants (one in London, one in Paris), she divides her time between the two to create inimitable dishes inspired by her southwestern roots and pushes the boundaries of what fine French cuisine can be.

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