Roast Goose

Goose is not a popular meat in the UK these days. Three or four generations ago the goose was the most popular bird for the Christmas feast, but it has been completely superseded by the turkey. Some people, like us, do like to eat goose occasionally, but it is not easy to find. However we have discovered that you can buy goose crowns (i.e. only the breast part of the bird) in the Lidl supermarket at this time of year. I think they only get then in during December and I have not seen them at other times of the year.

Goose meat is much darker and gamier than turkey - it has texture rather like duck, and taste more akin to Pheasant. Its skin is one of the most attractive features too; you can get it to go crispy like that of a duck. And do I have to explain about goose fat, and how good that is for roasting potatoes...?

Like most of the UK population, we will be eating turkey on Christmas Day, so this past weekend we decided to have a goose crown just for the two of us. (Actually one of those crowns would easily feed four. We certainly couldn't finish it all.). So this is how it's done:-

First step: brown the skin of the goose crown in a large pan with about a tablespoon of oil. Although the goose skin is very fatty, if you try to brown it without any oil at all it may scorch, so don't risk it.

At this stage you only need a little colour on the skin. I does not need to be golden.

Then you put the pan into the oven at 180C (fan oven) or 200C (ordinary oven) for 50 minutes. When it comes out, the skin should be uniformly golden and there should be lots of fat in the pan - save it for cooking potatoes in next day!

Leave the goose to stand for at least 10 minutes before carving. This will allow it to relax and re-absorb some of the juice.

When carving a bird I try to remove each breast more-or-less whole, and then cut it into transverse sections.

You can see in the next photo how succulent the goose meat is, kept moist by the thick layer of fat beneath the skin. If you don't want to eat the fat it's easy enough to cut if off, but I like to eat it because it has the best taste of all!

I found it difficult to get good photos of this meal for two reasons: A) I was in too much of a hurry because it looked so appetising and I wanted to get on and eat it, and B) it gave off such a lot of steam that my camera had difficulty focussing on anything else. This is why all the photos you see in recipe books must surely be of cold or cooled food...

This is my plateful just before I started eating. Apart from the goose, it includes the following: roast potatoes, steamed leeks, glazed turnips, (home-grown)Brussels Sprouts, gravy, and apple-and-orange compote:

That's my favourite type of meal: good-quality ingredients cooked in an uncomplicated way. YUM!

P.S. I should perhaps say that it was not me that made this meal, but Jane. These days, whenever I'm at home our meals tend to be a joint effort - even if my part is only to prepare the veg, carve the meat, open the wine and take the photos! I'm learning fast though...