How to cook grouse: Nick Beardshaw, Head Chef at Tom Kerridge's The Coach

The Staff Canteen

Editor

Nick Beardshaw shows us how to cook a grouse recipe. he head chef at Tom Kerridge restaurant, The Coach.

A role Nick earned after joining the fine dining pub from Tom’s other restaurant, the two Michelin starred Hand and Flowers.

how do you prepare grouse?

If you’re plucking the Grouse be sure to have a sink of cold water to keep the feathers damp, otherwise the kitchen can end up covered in feathers!

How do you cook Grouse?

Make sure the Grouse is brought to room temperature before roasting. This ensures even cooking from the outside to the inside.

How do you serve Grouse?

Grouse is a very rich meat so be sure to balance it properly, with some acidity such as berries and something bitter like 100% chocolate.

The Coach

After joining the Hand and Flowers in 2010 Nick quickly moved up the ranks to become senior sous chef before leaving to head up the kitchen of the celebrity chefs’ gastropub, The Coach which made the Estrella Damm Top 50 Gastropubs 2017.

The pub is open seven days a week and offers simplistic dishes set in a relaxed atmosphere.

The menu currently offers a range of dishes including Nick’s signature Coach Burger with Pulled Pork and Dill Pickle as well as Smoked Haddock and Black Pudding Scotch Egg with Moilee Sauce and Hot Chocolate and Peanut Tart with Salted Caramel Ice Cream.

When is Glorious Twelfth?

The Glorious Twelfth refers to August 12 – the first day of the shooting season in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Current legislation stated in the Game Act 1831 ensures the red grouse are left alone during summer months and only hunted during open season up which lasts up until the end of December.

Other game including woodcock and pheasant have different start dates to their open season with most beginning on September 1. Woodcock and pheasant start on October 1.

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