Roast goose with apple and onion

I’d like to take a long walk in Yorkshire, ending at a great pub. Where’s within easy reach of Leeds?

Elaine Lemm: Within an hour of Leeds, you can be in the heart of the Dales for an eight-mile circular walk that starts and ends at the award-winning Clarendon country pub in Hebden. Head for the hills behind the pub for sensational views, then take a scenic walk towards the town of Grassington before making your way back along the river. Back at the Clarendon, treat yourself to a post-walk real ale and check out French-influenced dishes such as onglet a l’échalotes (French cut steak) alongside pub classics including beer-battered haddock and chips, with most ingredients sourced within a four-mile radius. Visit between late summer and the end of January for superb local game.

Alternatively, drive 25 minutes west from Leeds, into the Pennines, where you’ll find the 17th-century Shibden Mill Inn (above). From here, you can set off on a circular walk of 2.5 miles, with the option to divert onto another trail after a mile or so, extending your hike to 7.5 miles. Soak up the varied (at times vertiginous) landscape, and catch distant glimpses of the area’s industrial heritage, such as Black Dyke Mills — now home to the Black Dyke Band brass ensemble. Once back at the inn, reward yourself with some of the most accomplished pub food in Yorkshire.

For a more urban walk, York is a 20-minute train ride away, and close to the station is the City Walls Walk, which runs for almost three miles.

The 700-year-old walls encircle more than 300 pubs, so there’s plenty of choice. Drop into The Lamb & Lion

Inn, adjoining the Bootham Bar, one of the city’s four historical gateways. This old inn is known for its modern British food and its beer garden, which overlooks magnificent York Minster.

I’d like to cook something different for Christmas. How do I roast a goose? Alfons Schuhbeck:

Goose served with apple and onion is a highlight of Germany’s Christmas menu. This version works best with potato dumplings and spiced red cabbage.

TAKES: 3 HRS 55 MINS SERVES: 6-8 INGREDIENTS

4kg goose

2 onions, peeled and quartered

½ apple, cut into wedges

2.5 litres chicken stock

50g melted butter potato dumplings and cooked red cabbage,

to serve 1 tsp icing sugar

2 onions, skin removed and chopped into 1cm cubes 1 small carrot, peeled and chopped into 1cm cubes 100g celeriac, peeled and chopped into 1cm cubes 1 tbsp tomato purée

250ml full-bodied red wine

1 tsp allspice berries

1 bay leaf (optional)

1 sprig mugwort (optional)

1 small garlic clove

1 tsp dried marjoram

2 tsp cornflour

METHOD

Heat oven to 150C, 130C fan, gas 2. Cut the wings off the goose and coarsely chop. Tip the wing pieces (bones and all), onions and apple into a large roasting pan, then pour in the stock, add the goose and cover with foil. Roast for 2 hrs 30 mins.

Raise the oven temperature to 200C,

180C fan, gas 6. Put a rack on the middle rail of the oven and set a drip tray beneath it. Lift the goose out of the cooking liquid and set it on the rack (line with a sheet of baking paper if necessary). Roast the goose until the skin is crispy and brown, around 1 hr. Mix the butter with ½ tsp salt and baste the goose regularly.

Meanwhile, scoop the wing pieces, onions and apple out of the dish and set aside. Skim the fat from the cooking liquid (reserving for later), then sieve the liquid and leave to stand for 5 mins. Skim once more, then measure out 750ml of the cooking liquid.

To make the sauce, lightly caramelise the sugar in a pan set over a low heat. Add the onions, carrot and celeriac and sauté, then stir in the tomato purée and cook until a brown layer forms at the bottom of the pan. Pour in the wine a little at a time, letting the mixture thicken. Add the reserved wing meat reserved cooking liquid, then add the allspice berries, bay leaf and mugwort (if using) and simmer for 30 mins. Tip in the garlic and marjoram and let infuse for 5 mins.

Sieve the sauce into a clean pan. Dissolve the cornflour in a little water, then add to the sauce and simmer for 2 mins to thicken. Stir in 1 tbsp of the reserved goose fat and season.

Carve the goose and serve with the sauce, the reserved apple and onions, and the potato dumplings and red cabbage.

Taken from The German Cookbook, by Alfons Schuhbeck (Phaidon, £29.95)