Recipe of the Day: Traditional roast grouse with bread sauce and pate croutons by Angus Fordyce of Cavens House 

For the bread sauce
Ingredients
Half an onion
2 cloves
2 bay leaves
1 pint of milk
6 whole black peppercorns
A little grated nutmeg
A inch of salt
100g white breadcrumbs
A small knob of butter

Method
1 Add the milk to a pan and heat.
2 Stud the half onion with cloves and place in the milk pan. Add the bay leaves, nutmeg and black peppercorns. Bring to the boil and simmer for a couple of minutes. 
3 Turn the heat off and leave for at least 20 minutes for flavours to infuse. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4 Pass through a sieve and discard the onion, bay leaves and whole peppercorns.
5 Add the bread crumbs and simmer over a low heat stirring occasionally. Add a little knob of butter and serve warm.

For the main dish
Ingredients
4 oven-ready grouse
Grouse liver, if available. Alternatively, use Brussels pate. 
A small amount of butter
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
A handful of lardons or diced bacon
4 slices of white bread
2 tbsps red wine
200ml game or chicken stock
Salt and pepper to season
4 sage leaves
Bread sauce 
To serve: 
Watercress
Game chips

Method
1 Preheat the oven to 200°C.
2 Rub the grouse breasts with butter, season with salt and pepper, then place a knob of butter and a sage leaf into each cavity.
3 Roast in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, basting twice. This will cook the birds to medium. Adjust the time as to how you prefer your meat cooked.
4 While the birds are roasting, melt a little butter in a pan and fry off the diced onions until cooked but not coloured. Add diced liver and cook on a high heat for a couple of minutes.
5 Once cooked, whizz in a food processor to a paste or pate. 
6 Next, fry the bread on the hob until it is nicely browned. Cut into diamond shapes to make large croutons and spread with the liver pate. 
7 Remove the grouse from the oven and transfer on to a warm plate to rest. 
8 Reserve the roasting juices to make a wine gravy. Place a roasting tray, with the juices, over a medium heat and add the red wine to de-glaze the pan. Add bacon lardons for extra flavour.
9 Add the stock and leave it to bubble away for a few minutes. Add a little cornflour to thicken the gravy, if desired. 
10 Serve the grouse on or off the bone with the pate croutons, gravy and bread sauce and garnish with watercress and game chips.

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