Ingredients

The following ingredients have 4 Servings
  • 2 sharp-tailed or spruce grouse, hen sage grouse or prairie chickens, (plucked)
  • Salt
  • 2 to 3 pounds assorted root vegetables
  • 2  sprigs of sage and 2 sprigs of rosemary ((optional))
  • 5 tablespoons butter or oil
  • 4 tablespoons rose hip syrup or jelly
  • 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
  • Salt to taste

Instruction

  • Salt the grouse well and set out at room temperature for 30 to 45 minutes. Preheat the oven to 325°F.
  • Cut the root vegetables into chunks, coat with oil or butter and salt well. Let these roast while the birds come to room temperature. 
  • If you're making the rose hip glaze, boil all the ingredients for it in a small pot until it thickens, about 5 minutes. Keep warm. 
  • Put the herbs inside the birds’ cavities. Either smear soft butter over the grouse or coat with oil. 
  • Take the roasting pan out and nestle the grouse, breast side up, among the roasting root vegetables. Roast hen sage grouse, prairie chickens or sharp-tailed grouse in the oven for 18 to 20 minutes, spruce grouse 15 minutes, ptarmigan for 10 minutes. Remove the roasting pan from the oven.
  • Set the oven to 500°F, or as hot as it will go. Baste the birds with a little more butter or fat. When the oven hits temperature, return the grouse to the oven and roast until the breast meat hits about 140°F at the thickest part, near the wishbone. This should take anywhere from 5 minutes for ptarmigan to 15 minutes for a big prairie chicken or sage hen.