To roast a goose

[Mezzaluna]

I've been plotting to roast a goose for New Year's Eve this year, and would like some advice. Happily, in this morning's paper the food section featured 2 pages on just this topic. Several methods were recommended, including simple roasting/draining off fat, Julia Child's method of basting with boiling water during baking, and one where you dunk the bird briefly in boiling water, refrigerate it for 2 days, and then roast it. Two of the recipes advise basting with boiling water for the final 15 minutes to crisp the skin. (Seems counter-intuitive to me.) Since I'll be out of town until the 30th, I'd appreciate your thoughts on a method I can do the same day. I'll be ordering a goose of about 10 pounds, and don't plan to stuff it. Thanks!

[This message has been edited by Mezzaluna (edited 12-15-2000).]

[Live_to_cook]

I'm sure the pros will have more sophisticated advice but here's two simple steps that have worked for poultry (in my case chicken, turkey, duck):

1. Brine it. Soak for at least 2 hours in solution of 1c kosher salt to 1 gal water. (Some people put sugar in too).

2. If you dig crispy skin, brine it the previous day and leave it uncovered in the fridge overnight so the skin can dry out. That way when you roast it the next day, the skin will be crispier.



[This message has been edited by Live_to_cook (edited 12-14-2000).]

[Mezzaluna]

Hmmm. I hadn't thought to brine it. If I don't have to work on the 31st, I'll definitely try it. I suppose the earlier discussions of brining would give me some options. Thanks for the idea, LTC. I've ordered an oven-ready 10-12 pounder, so I'm that far in my planning.

[This message has been edited by Mezzaluna (edited 12-15-2000).]

[Live_to_cook]

If you have a moment, perhaps you could spare a word of feedback on how it worked out.

Watch out for gooses. They is very fat. I usually prick the skin so some of the excess fat can escape.

I had a recipe for Honker that called for filling the bird with apples, carrots, celery, potatoes, etc. After baking you threw them away. Also, used a sauce made from honey, orange marmalade, and allspice with white wine. Put a lot of it in the bird and then basted the bird with it.

[nutcakes]

I roasted a goose once and it was incredibly good and exuded a large amount of fat which kept pouring out of the bird the entire roasting time. I was not quite prepared for that but I saved and used it for incredible potatoes. I don't think you should brine it. The meat is very rich and moist--maybe from all the fat. The skin will crisp up all on its own.

I bought chestnuts for a chestnut/wild rice dressing and found that I HATE chestnuts. nasty mealy things, I can't understand why anyone would eat them.

I just roasted my goose and it was fine. I guess the Julia steam-roasting will help deal with the fat, but I would just do it straight roasting to save the fat, which is the big bonus of making a goose. Here are instructions from David Rosengarten.

Old Fashioned Crispy Roast Goose
Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

Trim the goose. With a sharp knife, cut away excess fat and skin that hangs at both ends of the goose. Trim thoroughly. Fat can be discarded or used to render goose fat.

Salt the cavity and prick thoroughly with a fork on both sides of the bird (25 to 30 pricks). Make sure to prick through the skin and subcutaneous fat only; do not prick the flesh of the goose.

Place the goose on a rack set in a large roasting pan. Place the pan in the oven and roast the goose at 250 degrees F. After 1 hour, prick the goose thoroughly on one side and turn it over, and prick thoroughly on the other side. Continue to roast with the newly turned side up. Repeat this procedure every hour.

After 4 hours of roasting, prick and turn once again. Increase the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Continue roasting, pricking, and turning once for an additional 75 minutes.

When the goose is done, let it sit for 15 minutes before carving. Season well with salt and pepper before serving.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 5 hours 30 minutes


And you should make these potatoes for New Years Day Brunch. I have not tried it but I feel like roasting a goose just for this:

Giant Potato and Leek Rosti
Rick Rogers, Christmas 101

6 large baking potatoes, such as russet or Idaho, scrubbed but unpeeled (3 pounds)
2 tablespoons butter
3 medium leeks, chopped, white and pale green parts only
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly milled black pepper
4 tablespoons rendered goose fat or vegetable oil
Chopped fresh chives, for garnish (optional)

Place the potatoes in a large pot of lightly salted water and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium. Cook, uncovered, until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a knife, 25 to 35 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water. Cool completely. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, at least 4 hours and preferably overnight.

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F. In a very large (12-inch) nonstick skillet (if the skillet handle isn't heatproof, wrap it in a double thickness of aluminum foil), heat the butter over medium heat. Add the leeks and cook until tender, stirring often, about 4 minutes. In a small bowl, mix the salt and pepper. Season the leeks with 1/4 teaspoon of the salt-and-pepper mixture. Transfer to a small bowl and set aside. (The leeks can be prepared up to 1 day ahead, cooled, covered and refrigerated.)

Peel the potatoes and shred on the largest holes of a box grater. In the skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the goose fat over medium-high heat until very hot but not smoking. Spread half of the potatoes in the skillet in a layer. Season with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt-and-pepper mixture. Spread with the leeks, leaving a 1-inch border around the edges. Top with the remaining potatoes, and season with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper.

Cook until the edges of the pancake are golden brown, about 5 minutes. Hold a flat round skillet top, plate, or pizza pan on top of the skillet. Inver the skillet and the skillet top together so the pancake falls, upside down, onto the skillet top. (If this seems too heavy to handle, slide the pancake carefully out of the skillet onto a plate. Place a second plate on top and invert.) Return the skillet to the stove and heat the remaining tablespoons goose fat until very hot. Slide the pancake back into the skillet, browned side up. Cook until the underside is browned, 5 to 7 minutes.

Bake for 10 minutes. Turn the pancake as before, and bake it until crisp, about 10 more minutes.

Transfer to a warm round platter and sprinkle with the chives, if desired. Serve hot, cut into wedges.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Excuse the cribbing from (gasp) foodtv, but these do sound good.