Help with cooking a goose please!

Baileys_Babe

Love Goose, as you say meaty taste. I think it goes well with tart sauces like gooseberry or orange

Christmasshopper

Baileys_Babe wrote:

Love Goose, as you say meaty taste. I think it goes well with tart sauces like gooseberry or orange

That does sound good. Assuming I could still get gooseberries at this time of year, do you have a recipe for the sauce?

(My fingers hurt as I type. I burned them lifting the roasting tin out of the oven yesterday! A goose cooking injury.)

researcher

In Germany they serve the Xmas goose stuffed with apples, and served with boiled potatos, spicey red cabbage, a cucumber and dill salad and a rich sauce made with all the giblets, red wine and cream. Yummy.

Christmasshopper

thriftlady wrote:

I get my geese via my butcher from here

http://www.goodmansgeese.co.uk/

If you think Lidl's are expensive don't even contemplate buying one here :rotfl: They are fabulous though, and it's only once a year

Aaaw they look so cute :rolleyes:
I imagined mine to look like one of those vicious grey Canadian geese that bully the little ducks by the river. I didn't expect it to look like a swan!

Christmasshopper

researcher wrote:

In Germany they serve the Xmas goose stuffed with apples, and served with boiled potatos, spicey red cabbage, a cucumber and dill salad and a rich sauce made with all the giblets, red wine and cream. Yummy.

Sounds yummy. Do you have any recipies for the red cabbage and the sauce?

maow425

Try making potato and parsnip mash, subbing about half the potatoes for parsnips, otherwise make as normal mash. The parsnips make it quite rich and flavousome. You could also use plenty of herbs on your roasties, and instead of just plain carrots, (and it being just that once a year) do buttery glazed carrots like this:

Cut the carrots in decent size chunks (I usually cut, then turn the carrot a bit, then cut again, then turn, then cut etc - that way they look impressive as well). Put in saucepan with water just covering the carrots, and add about 50 g unsalted butter, 2 tbsp golden caster sugar (i've used different kinds of golden & brown sugars and they all come out scrummy) and 1-2 tsp of dill. Cook until most of the liquid is gone and it sounds like the carrots are frying instead of boiling. Test with a skewer and if they need a bit longer, just add a bit more water.

Hope it helps!

researcher

Christmasshopper wrote:

Sounds yummy. Do you have any recipies for the red cabbage and the sauce?

Spicy Red Cabbage.

Slice a red cabbage finely, removing any really thick pieces of stalk. Depending on the size, add a couple of sliced red onions and a large cooking apple + a couple of garlic cloves chopped finely.

Place in a large oven proof dish and sprinkle with salt, pepper and a couple of tablespoons of dark brown sugar (or whatever sugar you have). Squeeze the juice of a lemon and a dash (couple of tablespoons) of either balsamic or red wine vinegar. Now grate in some fresh nutmeg and a good pinch of Cinnamon. Cover tightly, (I put a layer of foil between the lid), and cook in the oven on a low heat (150c) for 2 - 3 hours, or until it is soft when squashed between your fingers. (Don't worry too much about the temperature of the oven - just make sure you stir it a couple of times, and if all the liquid has escaped add a touch more.)

(You can do this in a pan on the stove - it works well, but it's not quite so good)

When cooked I sometime add a couple of tablespoons of cranberry sauce. If not you might need to add a little more sugar. When finished it is deep dark crimson and looks beautiful in a glass serving dish.

This recipe is fine with a little more or less of this and that - so do experiment - more spices can be added later in the cooking process if needed too. It keeps exceptionally well and improves over the days, it's even lovely cold in a sandwich! It freezes very well, and can be cooked well in advance. I make it to go with goose, duck and even pork - but I tend to use the spices more with Goose and at Xmas.

tawnyowls

Christmasshopper wrote:

I think it was about £13 for a full goose and about £6 for a double breast (is that called a crown?) in Lidl.

Blimey! Definitely going to pick one (or 2!) up from there, then. Our goose last year cost 40 quid. Mind you, it was organic, it was absolutely delicious and did last us for 3 days.

maow425

Christmasshopper wrote:

Sounds yummy. Do you have any recipies for the red cabbage and the sauce?

Dunno if it's the right one, but I usually make spiced red (or white) cabbage for our x-mas roast (gammon) which is very simple:

Thinly shred red/white cabbage
Layer in large saucepan with slices of cooking apple and caraway seeds.
Add stock (I use ham stock, but I guess your goose stock would "beef" it up a bit) until it nearly reaches the top layer of cabbage.
(If using red cabbage, add a couple of tablespoons of white vinegar to retain the colour at this stage.)
Bring to the boil, cover, and simmer until cabbage is tender, and add a couple of tablespoons of sugar to taste.

researcher

Sauce

Make stock. Place all the Goose giblets (apart from the liver) in a saucepan of cold water, add an onion, a carrot, salt, a few pepper corns and a bay leave and simmer for a few hours.

When the goose has cooked and it is sitting in a warm place strain the fat from the pan (keep) and deglaze all those lovely dark sticky bits with a cup of red wine - reduce to about half. Add the goose stock and when up to simmer add double cream to taste. In a cup mix some cornflour with cold water and add as much or as little for your preferred thickness (remember to bring to a sauce to the boil - you can always add more) - if you add too much a glug of wine or boiling water will thin down. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Sometimes, I now add the gooses liver, quickly pan fried and pushed through a sieve! (But to be honest, it's so delicious we usually have it served with the meal).

I hope this is clear to you, I've cooked for so long I just tend to do it! Quantities vary so much depending on how many you're cooking for.

One further tip - roast a chicken in some Goose fat :drool: