Game Salad with Blaeberries

Serves 4.


Ingredients:



  • A selection of game bird breasts and fillets.

  • 50-60g small salad and herb leaves.

  • 30-60g blaeberries or blueberries.

  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper.

  • A good knob of butter.

For the dressing:



  • 2 tblsp sherry or red wine vinegar.

  • 6 tblsp rapeseed or olive oil.

Method:



  1. Season and pan fry the game very briefly so they stay pink then transfer them to a plate and leave to rest saving the juices.

  2. Make the dressing by mixing the oil and vinegar together with any cooking juices and season to taste.

  3. Toss the dressing with the leaves and arrange on plates.

  4. Slice the game thinly and scatter over the leaves with the blaeberries.

Mark Hix was staying with us researching his forthcoming book – a regional food tour of Britain. This recipe was created on the hill. “Whilst returning from my first successful grouse shoot, we stopped off for a blaeberry foraging opportunity. We looked hard in amongst the dense heather and our eyes eventually focused in on the tiny wild blue berries that very few people bother picking. You can make this salad with any game like grouse, pigeon, venison fillets or rabbit saddles. When we got back to Ben and Silvy’s I grabbed a few edible weeds – chickweed and small leaves of celery, pea shoots, flat parsley and chives and knocked up a salad”


Photos taken by Jason Lowe. Courtesy of Mark Hix.