This post could also be titled "How I convince my girlfriend all the hunting trips are worthwhile" or "I drove hours for this ____ bird so it had better be good."

Step 1: Bring home a grouse (sometimes easier said than done).

Step 2: Carefully clean the bird and submerge in a brine overnight. So far I've been making brines with a handful of salt and sugar each with coarse black pepper, chopped garlic, and a handful of herbs from the garden (basil, rosemary, oregano, thyme, etc). Put it all in a pot, bring to a boil, and let it cool before dropping the bird in.

Step 3: Wrap the bird in thick cut bacon and smoke for 20-30 minutes with low indirect heat. I just made a small pile of charcoal on one side of my Weber grill and put the bird on the other side, and kept feeding it cherry and apple chips for lots of smoke.

Step 4: Remove the bird from the grill and put it in an oven pre-heated to 400 degrees for 10 minutes or so.

Step 5: Let the bird rest for a minute and then carve off a bacon-covered breast (for your significant other first, of course). This happens to sit nicely on a small potatoes anna.



Step 6: Enjoy the smoky bacon and juicy breast while you savor the memory of seeing the grouse flush followed by a good shot and the dog proudly returning from the brush with it. Comment that you'd be happy to go get more, since the season far from over too.

The bacon absorbs a lot of smoke flavor (yum) while basting the lean flesh as it renders. If we had red wine on hand I would have deglazed the pan with it and made a little reduction sauce, but it was juicy enough not to need it. This is a relatively small plate so my girlfriend made a rich stuffed pepper soup too, which was delicious.

That looks really good!

Tom

I can certainly agree with Step 1. It has been exceedingly difficult to see grouse so far this year in northern Minnesota because fall has come so late. You can hear them, but its been real tough to see them.