Via the Laudator:
Robert Southey (1774-1843), To a Goose:
If thou didst feed on western plains of yore;
Or waddle wide with flat and flabby feet
Over some Cambrian mountain’s plashy moor;
Or find in farmer’s yard a safe retreat
From gipsy thieves, and foxes sly and fleet;
If thy grey quills, by lawyer guided, trace
Deeds big with ruin to some wretched race,
Or love-sick poet’s sonnet, sad and sweet,
Wailing the rigour of his lady fair;
Or if, the drudge of housemaid’s daily toil,
Cobwebs and dust thy pinions white besoil,
Departed Goose! I neither know nor care.
But this I know, that we pronounced thee fine,
Season’d with sage and onions, and port wine.
Ah this reminds me of geese I have known… under my carving knife… greasy…
My favorite way of preparing goose is with sauerkraut. Yum.
I almost… almost… look forward to winter after this.
I wonder what this winter will bring.
Or near future winters.
Will we have the chance, or necessity, to make a Christmas goose? With pickle cabbage?
Old world food.
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Michaelmas is coming up.
Geese, I sure wish more people ate them. Maybe then they would not be so prolific around every mud puddle to stream or lake leaving goose droppings and charging at you squawking like they want to kill you. I guess you could say I am not a fan of the Canadian Geese around here.
ed
you don’t eat Canadian geese
So what’s kim chi for the goose is kraut for the gander?
There are two kinds of geese-a green goose and a brown goose. The green goose eats grass and wild stuff and the brown goose eats seeds and feed. The green goose is less fatty.
I have two recipes for goose stuffing which soak up grease. My geese are not greasy.
One is with plums and one is with prunes. I could send you the recipes. Later as I have a busy morning.
Ok, I have a min: here is the prune stuffing recipe and if you want a gravy one to match is included. Plum stuffing coming.
For the stuffing
1 cup prunes, chopped into 1/3-inch pieces
2 Tbs. brandy
5 cups lightly packed 3/4-inch bread cubes (from a loaf of French or Italian bread)
2 cups chopped celery, including leaves (about 4 stalks)
1-3/4 cups chopped yellow onion (1 large)
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbs. fresh thyme leaves, lightly chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tsp. finely grated orange zest
1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
Gravy and make sure you use the pan drippings
3/4 cup dry red wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon or Shiraz/Syrah
2 Tbs. all-purpose flour
2 Tbs. currant or plum jelly
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Here is a variation on the plum stuffing: this makes the dressing sweet and sour, and not like usual stuffing.
1 lemon
12oz of plums
1 pound apples
you may add croutons
salt and pepper to taste
little red wine as above-plum wine is good
cinnamon and allspice to taste
Chop up fruit and line the inside of the goose with lemon juice (just squish it around) but not too much.
This is obviously a simple stuffing and the other more complicated. Fruit stuffings sometimes include apricots, but I have never tried that.
Supertradmum – That recipe looks very tempting.
Btw, dried apricots are a really good stuffing for goose, duck or (a particular favourite) wild duck (=mallard). Add breadcrumbs and some chopped celery. The brown Afghan dried apricots or (stoned) Turkish dried apricots are the ones to go for – not the reddish dried apricots found in supermarkets. The kernels of the apricot stones can be added to the stuffing.
Mmmm. Long time since I had goose; it very very rarely occurs on any English restaurant menu, and for dietary reasons I shouldn’t eat it anyway. It is alas fat, whatever the filling, but I suppose if cooked on a griddle with a lower dripping pan much of the surplus fat would fall off.
Maybe I’ll succumb to temptation and cook one this winter.
@ kallman-
You most certainly do. What kind do you think gets hunted the most in N. America? The good old Canada Goose. Second to them, the Snow Goose.
Straight-forward success in roasting geese and ducks has eluded ‘my circle’ (family, friends, myself!): any ‘classic’ cookbook or recipe recommendations?