Later than usual - I try not to indulge on the glorious twelfth as I like my birds well hung (ooh matron) but these two look fabulous - hung for a week, suitably smelly and rotten inside.

With roast potatoes in goose fat, cauliflower au gratin (not traditional but I love it) and my special bread sauce - friends say it's the best in the world.

I remember having it last year and my Mum, in hospital, actually said "I'm perfectly happy not to eat them this year", indicating she really was losing the will to live (she adored grouse but was happy just hearing my bite for bite description and using her imagination).

So... I shall wash it down with a pre dinner Caipirinha and an ice cold low alcohol cider (I love the Waitrose brand - and a new Waitrose has just opened 5 minutes walk away).

We picked the first Chicken of the Woods mushrooms of the year. Three huge and perfect specimens, we only got through one for brekkie yesterday the two remaining ones look pretty perfect still.
Look out for these on your local trees in park land. They actually do kill the trees so best revenge is to eat them! Better than chanterelles, similar flavour but stronger. Slice thinly and flambe in wine, butter and pepper.

On a side note. over the last couple of months , we have noticed that we all keep getting foot cramps. I reckon, this is because I have not been cooking with sea salt over that period and we are low in sodium. I swear by Maldons sea salt and have not been to a major shop to buy any in quite a time.

I must stress about this dietry complaint that the eating of wild fungus does not cause this, although it is in the same post and also, if anyone finds fungi they are unsure about, please don`t eat it and if in doubt, send me a picture and I will endeavour to identify it for you.

Grouse update - very nice but one of the two was radically under cooked.

I love them very pink, even red, dripping with blood, but raw is a mistake and one of the pair was so tightly bound up that it was too rare.
No big problem as one was really enough.
Still, they were delicious and the bread sauce was superb.

Actually the Cauliflower au gratin was a mistake too - too much white saucey stuff with the bread sauce as well.

Food is texture and appearance as well as taste.

Good god! Never eat poultry that is still dripping man!

Red meat fine, poultry/white meat game, bad.


I find that less on a plate is actually more attractive, had I have done the cauli, (which I would not have this time of year), I would have left it in the middle of the table , as a "help yourself" thing.

Good butchers are so important, tightly bound game is a no go.

Oh no Mart; game is not poultry (very red meat)... and grouse should always be eaten a) very rare and b) oozing black maggots from the interior, hung to an absurd degree!

Look it up.

I noticed that with wood pigeon, some are very red, some are not, I think it depends on age of the beast. My mate hangs game up in his garage! It appalls some people!


By the way, after watching the nest of the grey birds in the garden for some weeks, the dog actually took the offspring out in about two seconds after it tried to steal her food.
8 of us witnessed it and she is, I am afraid guilty. The winged beast was dead in 2 seconds.
I find it strange that the dog (for it is one) does not mangle things anymore.
She has an attitude , which seems to say, either, "Oh fek ! I broke my toy, or, I have kept this intact is it alright for cooking in this format?"
Who can say. The "woof" language is very hard to understand. So many accents.....