Smoked Goose

Recipe Credit: Chef John at Food Wishes 

I often watch youtube videos of chefs. My favorite to watch are Christmas feast videos, even if it’s summertime. Some of my favorites are of Gordon Ramsey or Nigella Lawson describing Christmastime in Britain. I suppose this is where I got the itch to have a Christmas goose. However, with the craziness of my family schedule around Christmastime, I eventually decided it made more sense to make a New Year’s goose instead. 

I was nervous since I had never eaten goose and certainly never cooked one before. I scoured the internet for ideas, and found very little recipes that sounded fool-proof for a neophyte. Then, as if by fate, one of my very favorite food bloggers, Chef John, posted a recipe using a pre-cooked, smoked goose. It sounded delicious and simple. The only changes I made to Chef John’s recipes were to use allspice and clove since I don’t like the licorice flavor of star anise, and I subbed in a different jam (a suggestion that Chef John made himself in his video). 

As a result, I got a smoky, rich goose, cooked to golden, shiny perfection, like an idealized vision of British Christmastime feast brought to life.

Ingredients:

1 pre-cooked smoked goose

2 goose wings

1/2 cup red wine

3 cups water

4 allspice berries

2 cloves

freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

pinch cayenne pepper

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/4 black currant jam

3 tablespoons cold butter, cut into cubes

salt to taste

Method:

Allow goose to thaw in fridge for 2 days. Remove the wings from the bird (leave the drum attached- just remove the “flat”).

Add the wings, wine, water, allspice berries, nutmeg

and cloves; bring the mixture to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Allow to simmer for 2 hours, until the meat starts to fall off the bone.

Meanwhile, preheat he oven to 350 degrees F. Place the goose onto a rack in a roasting pan, and roast it for 1 hour and 15 minutes, until it reaches and internal temperature of 150 degrees F. 

To finish the sauce, fish out the spices, bones and meat. Add the pepper, balsamic vinegar, and black currant jam. Stir well, and bring to a simmer on medium heat and reduce the sauce’s volume by 75 percent. Turn off the heat and toss in the cold butter, a few bits at a time while whisking. Taste the sauce and add salt as needed. 

Remove the goose from the oven and allow to rest for 15 minutes. Slice it up and serve it with the sauce. Enjoy!