Home Recipes Grouse Recipes Old grouse, chorizo and tomato with blue cheese dumplings

Old grouse, chorizo and tomato with blue cheese dumplings

Name: Old grouse, chorizo and tomato with blue cheese dumplings
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 25 min
Yield: 2
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 4 old grouse breasts (you could use pigeon or mallard); ½ a small red onion; 2 cloves of garlic; ½ tin of good-quality tinned tomatoes; Generous glug of reasonable but not virgin olive oil; A good pinch of dried mixed herbs; 1tsp good sherry vinegar; A little water; Salt and black pepper; 50g cooking chorizo; 50g blue cheese (I used Arran Blue); 100g wholemeal self-raising flour; 1tbsp milk; Pinch of chopped fresh lovage (or parsley)

Tim Maddams turns the old birds from a walked-up day in the Cairngorms into a one-pan supper for time-poor keepers, beaters and pickers-up, ready in under 40 minutes

Old grouse, chorizo and tomato with blue cheese dumplings being served from a cast-iron pan — One pan, under 40 minutes, and the dumplings will stop you caring about anything else. Credit: John Paul

I was recently on a walked-up affair that found me scaling the side of a Cairngorm, in pursuit of a few red birds, with some good-humoured folk who managed to put up with the terrain (more or less) and my irritating habit of shooting things while, at the same time, appearing to be dying of exhaustion.

During a much-needed break in the action, the subject of cooking came up and it was made clear to me that some folk don’t have much time to cook. My argument that it doesn’t take very long at all was met with the old “that’s easy for you to say” routine, and I was forced to accept that most people don’t think it’s quick and simple unless it only uses one pan and is ready in under 40 minutes.

That got me thinking about all the hard-working and time-pressed keepers, beaters and pickers-up who have access to lots of game but are not exactly spoiled for leisure time. This gave me considerable food for thought as we continued our adventure across the high moor, and left me thinking that I should come up with a few ‘one-pan wonders’ for these pages.

What to do with old grouse

The result of this hot day on the side of a mountain was exhaustion plus 8½ brace of fine grouse, which was quite something, and I was looking forward to supper before we had bounced back down the hill in my favourite Toyota Land Cruiser.

Alas, our ratio of young to old wasn’t entirely appealing (the birds, that is, not the team) and I ended up with my fair share of old grouse to take home. The dish below is a result of those hard-won birds and my desire to find recipes that are a little less heavy on the washing up and easy on those who are short of time.

It’s also important to add that the grouse will be a little overcooked, but the fat from the oil and the chorizo will settle that. The old grouse will also have a strong flavour, but that will be set off by the acidity and heat from the vinegar and chorizo – and the dumplings will stop you caring about such things anyway.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes
Total time: 35 minutes
Serves: 2
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

For the grouse

4 old grouse breasts (you could use pigeon or mallard)
½ a small red onion
2 cloves of garlic
½ tin of good-quality tinned tomatoes
Generous glug of reasonable but not virgin olive oil
A good pinch of dried mixed herbs
1tsp good sherry vinegar
A little water
Salt and black pepper
50g cooking chorizo

For the dumplings

50g blue cheese (I used Arran blue)
100g wholemeal self-raising flour
1tbsp milk
Pinch of chopped fresh lovage (or parsley)

How to make old grouse with blue cheese dumplings – step by step

Step 1. Slice the grouse breasts lengthways to pencil thickness, trimming any feathers or shot damage. Finely slice the onion and chop the garlic; blitz the tomatoes with a stick blender.
Step 2. Heat an ovenproof sauté pan you know you can trust, and preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4.
Step 3. Add the oil, grouse, chorizo, onion and garlic to the heated pan and give it a quick sizzle over a high heat. Add the blitzed tomatoes, herbs, sherry vinegar and a splash of water. Season with salt and black pepper. Simmer briefly, then remove from the heat.
Step 4. In a mixing bowl, make the dumpling mix – simply crumble the blue cheese and lovage into the flour and make it into a sort of breadcrumby texture by sifting the mix through your fingers (as if you were making pastry). Add milk and stir to a loose dough.
Step 5. Spoon out four dollops of the dough into the still-warm grouse dish and slam it in the oven for around 15 minutes. Keep an eye on it and add a dash of water if things start to look a little dry. Once the dumplings have puffed up and gone a little golden, remove the whole thing from the oven and allow to rest for five minutes before serving.

Tips for old grouse with blue cheese dumplings

Expect the grouse to be a little overcooked – the oil and the chorizo fat put that right, and the vinegar and chorizo heat balance the strong flavour of an old bird. If the pan starts to look dry while the dumplings bake, add a dash of water. Pigeon or mallard breasts work in place of grouse.

Frequently asked questions

How do you cook old grouse?

Tim Maddams slices the breasts lengthways to pencil thickness and cooks them quickly with chorizo, then bakes them in a tomato sauce with sherry vinegar under dumplings. The fat and acidity offset the strong flavour and slight overcooking of an older bird.

Can I use pigeon or mallard instead of grouse?

Yes. The recipe works with four pigeon or mallard breasts in place of the old grouse.

How do you make blue cheese dumplings?

Crumble 50g blue cheese and some chopped lovage or parsley into 100g wholemeal self-raising flour, rub it to a breadcrumb texture, add a tablespoon of milk to make a loose dough, then bake in dollops on the stew for about 15 minutes until puffed and golden.

Do I need more than one pan?

No. Everything cooks in one ovenproof sauté pan, with a mixing bowl for the dumplings, which is the point of the dish.

About the author

Tim Maddams

A chef, food writer, cookery teacher and broadcaster, Tim grew up on his family's farm in Wiltshire and cooked with Fergus Henderson, Alistair Little, Marco Pierre White and Mark Hix, and ran VIP catering for the Ferrari Formula One team in Europe, before returning west to join Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall as head chef at River Cottage in Axminster, appearing regularly on the Channel 4 series and the Fish Fight campaign. He founded Green Sauce in 2012, teaching, cooking and consulting on ethical food, and moved to Moray in 2020. He is the author of Game: River Cottage Handbook No 15 and the River Cottage A to Z, and a shooting man himself, taking woodpigeon, pheasants, duck, geese, rabbits and deer. He writes on game cookery for Shooting Times.

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Old grouse, chorizo and tomato with blue cheese dumplings

What to do with old grouse