Season the livers and add to the pan and continue to fry on a medium heat for 2-3 minutes stirring every so

Season the livers and add to the pan and continue to fry on a medium heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring every so often. Heat a good knob of butter in a frying pan and briefly fry the shallots and garlic for a minute or so without colouring. Serves 4

If you’re a grouse lover, this little starter is a good way to make the deliciously rich meat go that bit further. You can, of course, use wild duck, teal, widgeon or snipe.
2 oven-ready grouse, preferably with their livers (or if not, buy 120g chicken or duck livers) 2 shallots, peeled and finely chopped 1 clove of garlic, peeled and crushed A couple of good knobs of butter 2 tbsp sherry A handful of dandelion leaves or small salad leaves, prepared and washed Salt and freshly ground black pepper 4 slices of white or brown bread cut 1cm thick from a small bloomer-style loafFor the dressing 1 tbsp of sherry vinegar mixed with 3 tbsp of walnut oilClean the livers, cut them into even-sized pieces and dry them on some kitchen paper.

Transfer to a serving dish or container, cover with clingfilm and refrigerate overnight.Serve simply on toast or with a salad of small salad leaves and peeled seedless grapes.. Mix the pheasant, liver and reduced stock together, and then blend in a liquidiser or food processor in two or three batches to keep it as smooth as possible. You will need to stop every so often during blending so that you can scrape the sides with a spatula.Whip the cream to a fairly stiff consistency and carefully fold into the mixture with a spoon. Add the rest of the butter to the pan, season the livers and saut?hem for 2-3 minutes, stirring and keeping them pink. Strain the stock through a fine meshed sieve into a clean saucepan, add the marinading liquor from the pheasant, and boil until you have about two or three spoonfuls of syrupy liquid left.Dry the pieces of game meat on some kitchen paper and season. Heat half of the butter in a frying pan and cook it on a medium heat for 3-4 minutes, stirring every so often and keeping the meat pink Put to one side.

Add the chicken stock, thyme, garlic and juniper, bring to the boil and simmer for an hour. Heat a little vegetable oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and fry the bones and shallots, stirring well, until they are nicely coloured. Put the drumstick to one side, and remove the skin from the thighs and cut out the bone with the point of a sharp knife. Marinade in the fridge for 24 hours.Meanwhile, chop the drumsticks and carcass up into small pieces with a heavy chopping knife or cleaver.

Cut the breasts away from the carcass and remove the skin.Cut the thigh and breast meat into rough 2cm chunks and place in a non-reactive bowl with the wine, Madeira and brandy. But a mixture of game birds will do; and some good game dealers sometimes have birds that are not in perfect condition that would be ideal.2 partridges, or 2-4 snipe or 2-4 woodcock, or 1 pheasant (which comes into season in October) 4 shallots, peeled and roughly chopped 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed A few sprigs of thyme 1/2 glass of white wine 1/2 glass of red wine 50ml Madeira 2tbsp brandy 3 large shallots, peeled and roughly chopped 1 litre chicken stock, or one good quality stock cube dissolved in that amount of boiling water 4 juniper berries 100g duck or chicken livers 100ml double creamRemove the legs from the partridge or other game birds, and then cut through the leg joint to separate the thigh from the drumstick. It was a rich, silky smooth woodcock p? – well, more of a mousse really. It was a bit of a bugger to make, but it was well worth all the effort, which included forcing it through a sieve to ensure that the meat was as fine a texture as possible, as well as making lots of reductions of meat liquid.
I have shortened the laborious process a touch here, though, and instead of the rare woodcock, I have suggested using partridge or pheasant (pheasant comes into season next month).