Honey-roast grouse with apples, cinnamon and cider – Gordon Ramsay

Olive oil, to drizzle
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
4 oven-ready grouse
3 apples, russets or braeburns, quartered and cored
2 cinnamon sticks
3-4 fat garlic cloves
A few sprigs of thyme
500 ml medium dry cider
2 tbsp runny honey
250 ml chicken stock

Preheat the oven to 190C/Gas 5. Heat 2 tbspns olive oil in heavy-based casserole dish. Brown the grouse on all sides for about 5 mins. Remove from dish and set aside. Add a little more oil to the dish, then brown the apple quarters with the cinnamon and garlic for 5 mins. Nestle the grouse among the apples and scatter on the thyme. Pour in the cider and bring to the boil. Drizzle the honey over the grouse and roast in oven for 10-15 mins.

Remove the dish from the oven and lift out the grouse. Leave the birds to rest in a warm place while you prepare the sauce. Tip everything left in the dish into a sieve set over a saucepan. Mash the apples and garlic with a fork to squeeze the flesh from the skins. Discard the solids. Reduce the sauce by half, and then pour in the chicken stock. Bring to the boil and reduce over a high heat to a gravy consistency. Check for seasoning. Accompany with crisp roast new potatoes and buttered cabbage on the side. Serves 4.

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