My goose is cooked!

we had goose instead of turkey at my house this Christmas

[KeithDouglas]

Before Christmas my wife was asking the kids and me what we should have for Christmas dinner. Kids said ham, and I said turkey. For some reason the thought of another turkey so soon after Thanksgiving really upset the kids. So I said, "How about goose?" No one in our family has ever eaten goose. Some minor twinge of fear of the unknown set in. "How do you cook a goose?", we all wondered.

After consulting a few websites and seeing that one should poke holes in the skin (to let fat drip out) I gave it a try.

Now I am firmly convinced that it's much easier to cook a goose than a turkey.

The difference is in the aforementioned fat. A goose (being a bird that spends time in the water in cold climates) has a thick layer of fat between the skin and the meat. Most of it drips out while cooking, but some remains to keep the meat moist and flavorful. All of the meat, by the way, is comparable to the dark meat of a turkey, but more so: rich and more flavored. The fat also makes the skin turn perfectly golden brown and crisp when done.

The problem with the turkey is that it has been bred for lots of meat but has little fat; hence the difficulty is how to get the meat cooked all the way through without burning the skin and drying the meat near the skin. That's not easy. With a goose, all I did was rub it with salt and pepper, stuff it with cornbread stuffing, and pop it in a medium oven, loosely covered (with a roasting pan) until the last 30 minutes of cooking time.

I'd recommend goose to anyone who's tired of turkey!

[hannamyluv]

I did a goose for xmas as well. I had had goose once as a kid and decided it was time to try it again. It was very tasty. My husband says he prefers to to turkey as well. Me personally, I thought it was at the same level as turkey.

[Syzygy]

And after your goose has been cooked, there is only one thing left to do with all that scrumptious stuff in the bottom of the roasting tray...

cassoulet [bbc.co.uk]

Syzygy

[giggle]

I had Tom Yum Pla (fish soup). :(

Missing my turkey sandwiches this year, even though I've been living in Thailand for 5 years now.

[vkaryl]

We always have goose or duckling (some years we can't find an affordable goose here - I have an ingrained inability to pay over $50 US for a 12 pound goose, especially when a duckling is smaller, so better for the two of us, and usually won't run more than $15.) This year we got our goose for around $20, which wasn't bad at all....

KeithDouglas is absolutely correct too: WAY better than turkey!

(For those who thought the cassoulet recipe sounded just yummy, it IS. It is also, however, a bigger heart attack on a plate than is fettucine alfredo.... which I ALSO love, and am forgoing as well until I lose another 20 pounds.... *sigh*)

[KeithDouglas]

Another use for some of that goose fat is to use it to fry potatoes.

"The melted fat makes the best potatoes in the world."
[amazon.com...]

[KeithDouglas]

. . . over $50 US for a 12 pound goose

Before we actually bought the goose my wife immediately set to work doing some on-line investigating. Saw one gourmet shop with goose at $6 per pound — the thought of over $70 for a Christmas fowl was very offputting. But we found a frozen goose at the local supermarket for about $30 for 11 pounds.

Of course, so much of the weight is fat that pound-for-pound a goose doesn't put as much meat on the table as a turkey does. But, on the other hand, the goose meat is richer, so a smaller serving suffices.

[Syzygy]

Another use for some of that goose fat is to use it to fry potatoes.

You should try using the goose fat to do your roast potatoes...

Syzygy