August 10, 2011
Doug and I just finished a fantastic trip to the Pacific Northwest and back to the Southeast again. We are currently still in Gainesville, Georgia! After you humor me by looking at some travel pictures,
I will end this blog posting with a useful recipe on how to cook your own goose. :)
The series of photographs will take you through Dahlonega, Georgia, where my ancestors went to "strike it rich" to Doug's home in Seattle, Washington and Coeur D'Alene, Idaho. Our trip was littered with excellent food and beer, from cuisine from the banks of the Danube
to wild game.
Enjoy!
Many thanks to my cousin Andy Morris, who shot this goose for us this past fall in South Carolina. I enjoyed roasting and eating it in celebration of Doug's return from deployment in Japan.
A classic side dish of "duck fat potatoes" with rosemary and fleur de sel
Up, up, up! 3 miles to the top of Mt. Fremont in Mt. Rainier National Park
At 7,500 feet
A very cold but beautiful snow-melt lake
On our way home from Coeur D'Alene, Idaho, we drove through Wenatchee, WA and got some awesome cherries!
Bear sausage chili, thanks to my brother and sister-in-law, Matt and Cas Rowe in Idaho!
Elk for lunch at the Coeur D'Alene arts festival down by the lake
Panning for gold at Consolidated Gold Mine in Dahlonega, Georgia
Downtown Seattle with Mt. Rainier in the distance, as seen from the 
Wind turbines in "wind farms" dot the countryside in Eastern Washington....I think that they improve the landscape and are interesting to look at. There were hundreds!
Enjoying "local" beers at a tavern in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho
Craving a 6 mile hike in thin air yet? Better fuel up with a delicious roasted goose!
You can have your cousin shoot one in the wild for you, dress it, and put it in a freezer-ready bag, or, buy one down at the local megamart or Whole Foods.
This recipe will change if you use a commercially grown goose, as they have much more fat in their skin than the wild-flying and constantly exercising variety.
Our goose did not have it's skin on it, as this made it easier to prepare for the freezer.
Juniper roasted Goose
yes, I did make up this recipe!
yes, you need to start 72 hours in advance!
yes, it's WORTH IT!
Steps to success:
Buy a 5-10 pound goose. Too much bird? Buy a smaller duck....this same recipe works!
Day 1: Thaw out your goose....be mindful, this may take more than overnight.
Discard the packet of giblets/neck or save for making "poultry stock"
Day 2: Once thawed, place your bird on a paper towel lined sheet pan or plate, and pat the skin dry with paper towels.
Then, sprinkle kosher salt liberally onto the skin of the goose.
Let the bird sit in the fridge for 24-48 hours to "air-cure"
This may sound gross, but it is ESSENTIAL for drying out the fat under the skin, and the salt will pull out more moisture.
Dry skin + oven heat = crispy, delicious skin!
Change the paper under the bird every 12 hours or so since bacteria might like it.
Day 3: Say hi to your goose. Change it's paper.
Day 4: The day of roasting!
Pre-heat your oven to 350 F
Pull goose out of the fridge, allow to warm for an hour or so
Wipe off the skin with paper towels to get off excess salt and moisture.
Pepper the skin and cavity liberally
Place sprigs of rosemary, parsley, onion slices, and juniper berries into the cavity
Place the goose breast side up on a roasting pan and tie the legs behind her for even cooking
Make sure your roasting pan has slits in it, to let the fat drip away from the bird. This is very important!
Every 40 minutes or so, baste the bird with the drippings.
Roast your 10 pound farm raised bird at 350 F for 3 hours, or until internal temp is 180 F.
Let the bird rest when done for 15 minutes before carving. Discard what's in the cavity.
mmmmm.....crispy, crispy skin.
IF YOUR GOOSE DOES NOT HAVE ANY SKIN ON IT, OR IS A WILD GOOSE WITH SKIN: FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS.
A few changes have been made to ensure moist, delicious meat! This is what we did, and it turned out great!
After thawing your goose:
Prepare your brine solution for the goose (see instructions below)
Brine the bird in the refrigerator at least 8 hours
Pre-heat your oven to 350 F
Pull goose out of the brine, pat dry with paper towels
Salt and pepper the skin and cavity liberally
Place sprigs of rosemary, parsley, onion slices, and juniper berries into the cavity
Place the goose breast side up on a roasting pan and tie the legs behind her for even cooking.
Apply 6-8 slices of bacon over the breast of the goose. This will help to "baste" the goose as it cooks, and prevent the meat from drying out too much.
We like applewood smoked or Thompson Farms Hickory smoked
Make sure your roasting pan has slits in it, to let the fat drip away from the bird and onto your potatoes!
Baste this bird every half hour or so.
For our 4-5 pound wild goose, we cooked her at 350 F for 1.5 hours, or until the internal temp of the meat was 180 degrees.
The skin-on versions are much, much better, but this was awesome as well, and you have bacon at the end too.
The Brine
(Inspired by Alton Brown)
Into a LARGE plastic bowl or tub:
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
3 large sprigs of rosemary
1 tablespoon of juniper berries
2 bay leaves
1 gallon of water
Submerge your skinless goose (or skin-on wild goose) into this solution for 8-24 hours prior to cooking.
Stash goose and container in your refrigerator. Yes it takes up a lot of space!
If you brine your goose, it cuts down on total time. No "air-curing" for brined birds!
Lazy Goose Fat Potatoes
This is super easy if you have one of those roasting pans that came with your oven, ya know, the one with slits on the top part, and the pan underneath.
So, before you put the goose in the oven:
Slice 2 pounds of russet potatoes into 1/4 inch slices and put them in the bottom of the pan.
Put the rack with the goose on it on top
Roast with the goose, allowing the fat to drop onto the potatoes for 1 hour.
In the last 30 minutes of cooking, put a tablespoon of finely chopped rosemary and 3 cloves of garlic (peeled, whole) into the potatoes and stir them up in the pan.
Baste the goose at this point.....there should be PLENTY of fat.
After the 1 hour, remove the potatoes from the pan (carefully!) and put the pan back under the goose.
When you remove the potatoes, you may want to put the goose temporarily on a cookie sheet in the oven to continue cooking, or have another pan ready to transfer and catch the drippings. Just trade out the bottom pans.
This way you don't lose cooking time, oven temperature, etc.
Set the potatoes aside, salt to taste while hot (this is a great application for that fleur de sel that you've been saving), and enjoy with your goose!
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