Friday, December 2, 2011

Theme Recipe: Roast Goose For Christmas



Christmas Goose

Most people are aware that in most of Europe, especially England, Christmas dinner is synonymous with a roasted goose.  It is less popular here in the US, but it is quite popular in the Great White North of our neighbor Canada.  Domestic goose is quite fat so it is really best roasted sans stuffing, so that is the following recipe, this does not apply to wild geese which need to be treated totally different.  Most geese come frozen, so thaw over several days in the refrigerator.


1 domestic goose
Favorite seasonings (like with roast chicken it's best to keep it simple)
Boiling Water


1.  Wash and dry the goose well.  Heat the oven to 325 degrees.  Season as desired inside and out and place in roasting pan.  Slowly pour two cups of boiling water over the bird to seal skin, re-season outside of the bird and cover.  Place in oven and roast roughly 20 minutes per pound.  Baste with pan juices every 15 minutes or so.  Remove from oven and let sit for 20 minutes.  The pan juices can be de-fatted and used to make gravy, or frozen for future use.  The traditional accompaniment to the is homemade apple sauce.  The English butter the sauce.  Garnish for festive occasion with seasonal fruits and vegetables, such as fresh herbs, baby pumpkins, watercress, apples or crab apples, watercress, etc. 



VARIATIONS

Because of it's high fat content, stuffing a domestic goose can be a soggy affair, but since it's Christmas a stuffing sounds special.  The traditional stuffing is made with dried fruits and/or prunes.

The bird may be cooked with it's cavity stuffed with orange and apple (or anything--onion are a good addition).  The whole fruits and/or vegetables are then discarded before service.

The above recipe calls for all of the roasting to be done under cover.  If you skin is not dark or crispy enough for your taste, turn oven on broil and uncover the bird, then brown for 5 minutes at a time, until skin is dark and crispy.

You may also glaze the bird.  If you choose to do this, cover the bird with foil that is foiled "tent style" to stay off the skin so the glaze can caramelize.



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