Grouse Poutine Gaston Gérard style
Uncle Gaston meets Auntie Ginette, somewhere between Burgundy and Lac-Saint-Jean.
One of those days where you just want to simmer something rich, hot, deeply comforting. Not really in the mood to invent a new recipe today… so we're going to do a little culinary cultural appropriation.
Today I'm bringing you an upland game recipe in the style of Uncle Gaston… or maybe Uncle Gérard… or Auntie Ginette.
I came across the original recipe scrolling through my social feed and it made me smile. In my head, the rule is simple: if a recipe is named after an uncle or auntie, comes from France, and involves wine, cream and cheese… it can't really go wrong.
The original is called Poulet Gaston Gérard. And no, I'm not kidding — it's a real thing. A Burgundian classic, created in the 1930s by the wife of the mayor of Dijon in honour of the gastronomic critic Curnonsky. Chicken simmered in white wine, Dijon mustard and cream, with comté broiled on top.
So we swap the chicken for Québec upland game: grouse breasts, wild duck legs, 1608 cheese from Laiterie Charlevoix… and a generous pan of mushrooms cooked in garlic-scape butter. Since we're already messing with the recipe, might as well not botch it completely.
What you end up with is something halfway between Québec hunting-camp cooking and a small Burgundian bistro. Dijon mustard with just the right bite, 1608 bringing its hazelnut notes and bloomy rind, white wine opening it all up, cream holding it together. And the game pulling us back to where we come from.
How do you eat this? As my grandmother would say: with mashed potatoes.
But if we're already revisiting the recipe, might as well go full Québec. So I went with a deeply decadent poutine: 1608 in the sauce… and 1608 chunks scattered on top, barely melting against the scorching gravy.
Even Gaston Gérard and his wife, in my opinion, would have probably said:
"Well… it's not exactly the recipe, but it holds together."
Ingredients
Game
- Grouse breasts, trimmed, cut into large cubes at assembly4
Aromatics
- Butter, about 4 tablespoons, split between mushroom cooking and searing2⅛ oz
- Onion, thinly sliced1
- Wild mushrooms, mix of chanterelles, oyster mushrooms or button mushrooms as substitute8.8 oz
1608 Sauce
- White wine, an unoaked Chardonnay or a Burgundian Aligoté2 cups
- 15% cream, 35% works too for a more stable sauce2 cups
- Dijon mustard, 2 tablespoons2 tbsp
- Whole-grain mustard, 1 tablespoon, ideally a wild mustard1 tbsp
- Sweet paprika (Spanish Pimentón), 1 tablespoon, ideally Spanish Pimentón de la Vera1 tbsp
- 1608 cheese from Charlevoix, Laiterie Charlevoix, split: 175 g grated for the sauce, 75 g cubed for the gratin8.8 oz
- Salt, 1 teaspoon, adjust to taste1 tsp
For the poutine
- Frying potatoes, Russet or Yukon Gold, 4 large potatoes, peeled and cut into hand-cut fries. Good-quality frozen fries as a substitute.1¾ lb
Steps
- 01Thinly slice the onion and the mushrooms. In a hot skillet, sweat the onion in 30 g of butter over medium heat until translucent, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the mushrooms, bump the heat to medium-high and cook until they release their water and start to brown, about 6 to 8 minutes. Deglaze with a splash of white wine (taken from the 500 ml for the sauce) and reduce to dry. Set aside in a separate bowl.
- 02Cut the grouse breasts into large cubes (about 2 cm). Season with salt and pepper. In the same skillet, over high heat, sear the cubes in the remaining butter — 1 to 2 minutes per side, just to colour the outside. The grouse should stay pink in the centre, it will finish cooking in the sauce. Set aside with the mushrooms and onion.
- 03In a saucepan, combine the remaining white wine with the cream, both mustards and the sweet paprika. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and reduce by 30 to 40%, until the sauce coats the back of a spoon, about 10 to 12 minutes. If you're using 15% cream, let it reduce a bit longer to thicken. Off the heat, add the grated 1608 (175 g) in three or four additions, stirring between each. Don't put it back on direct heat once the cheese is in — that's what keeps the sauce from breaking.
- 04Add the reserved mushrooms, onion and grouse cubes to the sauce. Stir gently and return to very low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, the time for the grouse to finish cooking in the sauce and for the flavours to marry. Taste and adjust salt and pepper.
- 05While it simmers, cook the hand-cut fries until golden and crispy. Preheat the oven broiler on high. Lay a generous portion of fries in oven-safe individual skillets or dishes. Pour the grouse and sauce over the top — don't hold back on the sauce. Scatter the remaining 75 g of 1608 cubes on top and broil for 2 to 3 minutes, just enough for the cheese to start melting without completely disappearing. Serve immediately.