What’s good for the goose . . .

Serves 8

INGREDIENTS

Gravy

2 Tbsp butter

Goose giblets (not the liver) and wing tips

2 brown onions, roughly chopped

1 carrot, roughly chopped

2 celery sticks, roughly chopped

6 peppercorns

1 cup white wine

20g all-purpose flour

4-5kg goose

Salt and pepper

Stuffing

3 brown onions, diced

200g streaky bacon, sliced

200g pork mince/ground pork

30g sage, finely chopped

30g parsley, finely chopped

150g fresh white breadcrumbs Freshly ground black pepper

75g goose fat

Apple sauce

50g butter

1kg cooking apples, peeled and diced

3 Tbsp light brown sugar

Mash

2kg potatoes, peeled and diced

60ml whole milk

50g butter

Generous pinch of salt

METHOD

1. Start the gravy in advance: melt the butter in a large saucepan and cook the giblets and wing tips until browned. Add the roughly chopped vegetables, peppercorns and 81⁄2 cups of water. Simmer over a low heat for 2 hours to reduce. Strain the liquid and store until Christmas Day.

2. If your bird is frozen, leave it on a low shelf in your refrigerator to defrost overnight. An hour before it needs to go in the oven, remove it from the fridge and any packaging to bring it to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 200C.

3. Dry the skin of the goose with kitchen paper. Prick the skin, but not the flesh, with a sharp knife, then rub with salt and pepper. Set up a roasting tray with a rack at the base, so that the fat from the goose has somewhere to drain away from the bird. Place the bird on the rack, breast side up and legs as wide apart as possible. Roast for 30 minutes per kg, plus an additional 30 minutes (my

4.3kg one took just over 21⁄2 hours).

4. After an hour, remove the goose from the oven and tip the fat from the tray into a bowl. Set this aside for the stuffing, and return the bird to the oven.

5. To prepare the stuffing, fry the diced onion in some goose fat until translucent, and tip into a bowl. Fry the bacon and pork mince, and add these to the bowl. Add the chopped herbs, along with the breadcrumbs and a very generous grinding of pepper. Warm the goose

fat until liquid in a small saucepan and pour over the stuffing. Stir through, then transfer to a greased ovenproof dish.

6. For the apple sauce: melt the butter, add the diced apples and the sugar, and cook for 15 minutes over a medium heat. Stir them around to prevent them browning.

7. Remove the goose from the oven, transfer to a serving dish and cover with a sheet of foil. Leave to rest for 30 minutes while you finish the gravy and prepare the mash. Transfer the stuffing to the oven and bake for 30 minutes.

8. To finish the gravy, pour the goose fat from the roasting tin and add to the bowl of fat from earlier. Place the roasting tin on the heat, and add the white wine. Reduce the liquid by half, stirring any scraps of goose left over in the pan into the wine. Tip the liquid into a saucepan. Put the flour into a small bowl and ladle a little of the juices into the bowl. Whisk until smooth, then tip the floury liquid back into the saucepan and whisk well.

9. Pour 21⁄2 cups of the goose stock into the saucepan, and reduce until the gravy is the consistency you like. Strain the gravy into a jug.

10. To make the mash, boil the potatoes until tender. Drain, then mash until smooth. Add the milk and butter and stir though, then flavour with salt.

11. Carve the goose at the table, and serve it alongside the mash, warm apple sauce, gravy and piping hot stuffing.

A note to Weekend readers: Whole goose is available from gourmetdirect.co.nz