Grouse and wild rice.

On a January night in Minnesota after a nasty cold snap with several days that never got above zero, my husband, Jerry, and I shared a memorable meal—and one quite suitable for owners of a bird dog breeding and training business.

Earlier in the day, Jerry had removed two grouse from the freezer. These birds were noteworthy in that each was pointed by a favorite in our kennel—one by Oscar, a strapping orange-and-white setter male and another by our beautiful and graceful yet fierce, young pointer female, Maggie.

While the rice was cooking and the birds were roasting, we had cocktails in front of the fire. Scotch is our favorite winter booze and lately we’ve liked Famous Grouse, not only for the cool name but also for its smooth, smoky taste.

Our Saturday Night Menu:
Roast Grouse with Cranberries and Thyme
Wild Rice
Green Salad with Oranges, Red Onion and Pecans
House Red Wine

Roast Grouse with Cranberries and Thyme
Place bone-in, whole grouse breasts in shallow baking dish and baste generously with mixture of melted butter and olive oil. Over each breast, gently spoon dried cranberries which have been plumped up in good red wine. (Open bottle while cooking, pour medium amount in glass, sip several times to make sure it’s good and then place bottle on table to have with dinner.) Sprinkle each with chopped, fresh thyme and season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Roast at 350 for about 25 minutes.

Wild Rice
Rinse 1 cup of wild rice (See Note #1 below.) and place in medium saucepan. Add water to cover rice by about one inch. Bring water to boil over high heat and then immediately reduce heat to low, cover the pan and simmer until done. (See Note #2 below.) On my stove, it takes about 30 minutes. Drain rice.

Even though there are recipes for adding mushrooms, cranberries or slivered almonds to wild rice, my favorite serving method allows the flavor and texture of the wild rice to shine. Plus, it’s the easiest. To the drained wild rice, I simply add chunks of unsalted butter and season with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Note #1: Use only authentic, hand-harvested wild rice, which is mottled brown in color and more uneven in shape. The taste is superior and you’ll be supporting a Native American tradition.

Note #2: This might be the hardest part of the dish. I always refer to my stained copy of a story by Beth Dooley and Lucia Watson which appeared in the October/November 2003 issue of Fine Cooking. The pair describes what to look for (“when most of the grains have ‘popped’—the grains split open to reveal a creamy interior, and the ends curl in slightly) and photographs clearly depict the differences between underdone, just right and overcooked wild rice.

Green Salad with Oranges, Red Onions and Pecans
#1. Prepare the salad components.
Thoroughly drain good quality, canned oranges and then gently pat dry with paper towels. (I don’t like watery segments weighing down my salad.) From the middle of a red onion, thinly slice a couple rounds. Cut each slice into quarters and separate rings, saving the innermost pieces for another dish. Toast whole pecans on a baking sheet for about 10 minutes in the oven along with grouse. Let cool and then roughly chop.

#2. Make the vinaigrette.
Place all ingredients in a glass container with a good screw cap and shake until well combined.
1 tablespoon champagne vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
¼ teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper.

#3. Assemble the salad.
Place greens in large bowl. Pour modest amount (more can be added but the salad is ruined if over-dressed) of vinaigrette and thoroughly but gently mix with clean hands. Grab handful and place on individual salad plates. Artfully sprinkle oranges, red onion slices and chopped pecans over greens.

As Julia Child would say…..Bon Appetit!

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