a pie-dish with slices of meat, cover with a layer of grouse, add a few strips of bacon and slices of egg, and season well with salt and pepper. Repeat until the materials are used, add stock to ¾ the depth of the dish and cover with paste (see Veal Pie, No. 798). The pie must be baked about 1½ hours; for the first ½ hour in a hot oven to make the paste rise, and afterwards in a lower temperature in order that the birds and meat may be sufficiently cooked. Meanwhile simmer the necks and any trimmings of the birds there may be in the remainder of the stock, strain, season to taste, and pour it into the pie before serving. When about ¾ baked the pie should be brushed over with yolk of egg. When a more highly-seasoned dish is desired, a flavouring of parsley, shallot and mushrooms, all finely-chopped and mixed together, should be added to the meat.
Time.—To bake, about 1½ hours. Average Cost, from 4s. 6d. to 5s. Seasonable from August 12 to December 10.
Grouse (Fr. coq de bruyère).—Under this general term are included several species of game birds called respectively black, red, wood and white grouse. They all form the type of a large family Tetraonidae, which includes the genus Tetrao, or the grouse. The characteristic mark of the grouse is a naked band, frequently of a red colour, which takes the place of an eyebrow; the nostrils are feathered, the bill is short and broad, the wings rounded, the tarsi feathered and the toes long. Grouse live in families in forests, moors and barren mountainous regions, feeding on the buds and berries of mountain trees and the tips of heather. The male birds are polygamous. Grouse are much esteemed as game birds. They are subject to "grouse disease," to which large numbers fall victims at particular seasons. It is of an epidemic and febrile character, and in some cases takes the form of acute inflammation of the respiratory mucous membrane.
1294.—GROUSE, ROASTED. (Fr.—Coq de Bruyère Rôti.)
Ingredients.—A brace of grouse, 2 slices of toast, butter, good brown gravy, bread sauce, No. 180 (see Gravies and Sauces), fried breadcrumbs, bacon.
Method.—Let the birds hang in a cool dry place for 3 or 4 days. When ready for use, pluck, draw, and truss them in the same manner as roast chicken. Tie over each breast a thin slice of bacon, and roast before a clear fire from 30 to 35 minutes, basting frequently with butter. When nearly done remove the bacon, dredge with flour, and baste well to give the birds a nice brown appearance. Toast the bread lightly, and when the birds are about ¾ cooked, put it into the dripping-tin to catch the gravy that drops from them. Dish on the toast, and serve the gravy, bread sauce and bread crumbs separately.
Time.—From 40 to 45 minutes. Average Cost, from 4s. the brace. Seasonable from August 12 to December 10.
The Ruffled Grouse.—This bird is a native of North America, and is so named from the curious velvet-black tufts of feathers on its shoulders. The plumage of the back is a rich chestnut, and its tail is grey, barred with black.
The Pinnated Grouse, also called the Prairie Hen, frequents the open desert plains of North America. The male has two winged-like appendages on the neck, covering two loose orange-coloured sacs which the bird can inflate at pleasure. Its plumage is brown, marked with black and white.
The Sand Grouse, (Pterocles bicinctus), is chiefly an inhabitant of the warm sandy regions of Africa and Central Asia. It is longer in the legs than the ordinary grouse, and the tarsi are covered with feathers, the toes are short and connected at the base by a membrane. The wings and tail are pointed. The colour of the sand grouse is of a sandy hue, whence its name, resembling the sands of the desert where it dwells. A vast flock of these birds in 1863 and again in 1888, crossed the North Sea and visited Europe, settling in Britain and the Faroe Islands.
