Goose Recipes

Goose recipes seem a bit unusual since we are accustomed to a narrower range of poultry choices. However, goose is a good meal choice and is not difficult to cook.

Roasting a goose, whether bought at your local butcher or brought home from your latest hunting trip, is much like crossing the preparation to cook a chicken and a turkey. You will need the following equipment:

• bulb baster or ladle
• meat thermometer
• roasting pan.

Roast Goose

Ingredients

• 1 goose, approximately 8 lbs
• 1 large onion
• 2 stalks celery, cut lengthwise
• 1 carrot, cut lengthwise
• 3 small oranges, peeled and quartered
• salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste.

Directions

1. To prep the goose, you will need to prick the skin (but not the flesh) of the goose all over. This helps the layer of fat under the skin drain off during roasting. You may want to save the fat and use it for other purposes; goose fat is considered an extremely elegant ingredient in fine cuisine.
2. Preheat the oven to 325^oF. Rinse the goose inside and out and remove the giblets. (If this is a wild goose, prep the bird standardly.) You can save the giblets for preparing your favorite gravy recipe while the bird cooks.
3. Arrange the onion, celery and carrot in a bed in the roasting pan. Insert the oranges inside the body cavity of the goose. Sew or skewer shut, then lay the bird on top of the vegetables in the roasting pan. Sprinkle salt and grind pepper over the goose, and fill the pan with water 1/2 inch deep.
4. Cover the bird with foil. Use a tenting method, where the foil rises up over the bird and does not touch it. Make sure the foil is wrapped tightly around top of the roasting pan to seal in the moisture as the bird cooks.
5. Roast the bird for approximately three to three-and-a-half hours. About halfway through the cooking time, check on the drippings in the pan so they don''t overflow. Use the bulb baster or a ladle to remove some of the drippings (remember to save them, as noted above). Replace with a little water to keep the bird moist through the rest of the roasting process.
6. The bird will be ready when a meat thermometer inserted at the thickest part of the breast reads 175^oF to 180^oF. Juices will run clear and the joints of the bird should be pliant.
7. Remove the oranges and place the goose on a carving board. Cover the bird with a damp, loose cloth and allow the cooked bird to rest 10 to 15 minutes before carving.
8. Roast goose is perfect with traditional fixings such as mashed potatoes, stuffing and gravy. Roast goose is a lovely choice for traditional holiday dinners with friends and family.

Other great recipes for goose include goose stew, which is like a traditional beef stew recipe with the meat choice switched out, and any other recipe turkey may be used.

Resources

BackwoodsBound.com (2005). Roast goose with stuffing. Retrieved November 13, 2006 from the Backwoods Bound Web site: http://www.backwoodsbound.com/zgoos5.html.

Grunes, Barbara (2002). Williams-Sonoma Roasting. Weldon Owen, New York, 2002.

Metzer Farms (2006). How to cook your goose. Retrieved November 13, 2006 from the Metzer Farms Web site: http://www.metzerfarms.com/recipes.htm.