Wild Goose Food

WILD GOOSE

Steps:

• Soak plucked and cleaned goose overnight in well salted water.
• Rinse and dry, then stuff with 2 onions and 2 apples, both quartered.
• Place breast side up in open roaster pan and cover with 2 strips thick bacon.
• Brown in 475 degree oven until bacon is crisp.
• Take all fat from pan and discard.
• Remove bacon.
• Add to the pan 1 onion, quartered, 1 carrot, quartered, 1 cut up stalk of celery, 1 bay leaf, 2 or 3 sprigs of parsley, 1/2 teaspoon thyme, 2 cans consomme with 2 cans water, and 1 cup of dry red wine.
• Cover the pan and roast at 375 degrees for 2 to 2-1/2 hours, basting often.
• Goose should be done so that meat will readily pull off carcass.
• Remove goose from roaster and place on warm platter.
• Remove and discard stuffing.
• Strain the gravy and thicken with 1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons cold water.
• Correct seasoning if necessary.
• Serve with wild rice.

WILD GOOSE IN A BAG

Steps:

• soak bird in salted water x 1 hour to remove blood
• examine for pellets and feathers. Remove if found
• prepare browning bag with flour shaken inside and place into pan large enough to hold bird and bag without it hanging over edge
• Place in bird cavity -carrots celery and apple + herbs
• pat dry and coat with olive oil
• sprinkle with poultry seasoning
• place into bag in pan
• add french onion soup over top of bird and red wine into cavity
• place 2 bacon strips on top of bird
• seal bag and make 6 slits
• Bake at 350 x 20-30 minutes per pound. its done when leg wiggles easily.
• let cool 30 minutes before carving
• skim fat from liquid and reduce liquid
• thicken with cornstarch mixture.

GOOSE TACOS

Steps:

• Butterfly the goose breasts as I describe in the text above. If you want, place the pieces between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound to an even thinness of about 1/4 inch. Soak in the marinade in the fridge for an hour and up to overnight.
• When you are ready to cook, take the goose breasts out of the marinade and wipe dry with paper towels. Lightly oil them, as well as a comal, flat top or heavy frying pan. You want the pan to be very hot, and the meat to be cold. Lay it down on the flat top and, if you have one, set a heavy weight on top of the meat to press it flat as it sears. Keep this on the goose breasts for 1 to 3 minutes.
• Flip the meat and put the press back on. Sear another 1 to 3 minutes, depending on how well you like your meat. I typically go for 3 minutes on side one, then 2 on side two.
• When you're ready, let the meat rest on a cutting board for a minute or two, then slice it very thinly against the grain (watch the video I link to in the text above), then chop the thin slices into taco-sized pieces.
• Serve with the tortillas, salsa and toppings of your choice. I went with a simple salsa, cilantro, crumbly cotija cheese and pepita pumpkin seeds.