Camden New Journal - Food: Roast Goose

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The Review - FOOD & DRINK- Cooking with CLARE
Published: 20 Decemeber 2007

Take a gander at a top alternative to traditional turkey

Clare Latimer serves up the perfect roast goose

WELL, I can’t believe that we are now at the countdown to Christmas Day, with only a few days to go.
This year I am spending the day with good friends who are superb cooks so the pressure is off me. But I am doing a Christmas dinner on the December 30 for my mum and friends.
I have chosen to cook a goose as there will be about eight of us so it is the perfect size.
Apart from the huge amount of fat that runs out while cooking, goose is very easy to cook and the flavour is second to none.
An ex-chef friend of mine has moved down to north Cornwall to a family farm and now rears 200 geese which he grazes on cliff tops, calling them in at night to keep them safe in cosy barns.
They live the most superb life and therefore the meat is unbeatable – apart from 38 birds that were killed by one spaniel on a binge and Mr Fox who dines out quite regularly during the day.
Obviously it’s too late to order a goose for Christmas, but why not order one now for New Year’s Eve? Or wait until Easter and order some Hebridean new season sheep that are brought up the same way?
Free-range geese are not good at Easter as they are laying eggs, therefore loosing weight so stick to the traditional lamb.
Contact Hugo at Tregardock, on ring 01840 213300 or emailtregardockgeese@yahoo.co.uk

Roast goose
Whether you are buying goose or turkey this Christmas, please do try and ask for free range and this demand will hopefully knock down the demand of factory-farmed birds.
It will cost more but you can make good use of the leftover meat over a few days.
And then make soup from the carcass. I so often see dried up half-eaten birds in larders over Christmas and I am sure that so much is thrown away. What a waste of bird and money!

Ingredients
Serves 6
1 x 5kg free-range goose
Salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Method
Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/gas5.
To prepare the goose, trim the excess fat from inside the goose and prick the skin all over in a violent fashion so that the fat can be released when cooking.
Put the stuffing (recipe from last week’s New Journal or see on website) into the neck-end of the goose, pressing it firmly and then tucking the flap of skin neatly down around it.
Season with salt and pepper. Cover with foil and place on a rack in a deep roasting tin in the oven. Cook for two-and-a-half hours and then remove the foil and cook for a further 30 minutes so that the skin is brown and crisp. To test it is cooked, pierce the fattest part of the inner thigh with a skewer. If the juices run clear then the bird is done.
Rest the bird for 30 minutes on a serving dish, oven turned off with the door ajar, before carving to tenderise the meat.

Gravy
If any guests crave gravy (I have one!), then double this quantity.

Ingredients
50g flour
1 tbsp redcurrant jelly
Slosh of red wine
10 fl oz stock or vegetable water.
Method
Strain off nearly all of the fat into a jar (very good for roasting potatoes etc and will keep in the fridge) and then put the roasting tin on a medium heat.
Using a wooden spoon, scrape the “bits” from the tin to loosen and then stir in the flour and blend into the fat.
Add the redcurrant jelly and red wine, and stir well.
Add the stock or vegetable juice gradually stirring all the time until you have smooth gravy.
Check for seasoning and adding salt and pepper if necessary.
Pour into gravy boat and keep warm until ready to serve.

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