Basic Roast Goose

Most wild foul are greasy if not prepared correctly.
The preparation consists of three steps. The
first step in cooking is the degrease and brown
step. The second step is the stuff (if desired) step. The third
step is the cook step.

Ingredients:

One fresh or completely thawed goose.

Orange Juice and Honey basting sauce
(Approx 1 cup OJ and 1/4 cup honey or to
taste, soy?)

Dried fruit or fruit and wild rice stuffing.
(You can completely stuff the goose with
dried fruit including appricots, raisins
prunes, etc or make any other rice and fruit
stuffing.

Step One:

Take a fresh or completely thawed goose.
Puncture many holes in the skin. Puncture both top and bottom of goose this will render the grease out.

Preheat oven to 375.
Place unstuffed goose in roasting pan on a rack with large area for catching grease.
Roast approx 45 min to
an hour until slightly brown. Watch carefully
This is only the first step in cooking so you
don't want it to burn. You can optionally turn
the goose over to brown both sides.

Step Two:

Remove the goose from the oven. Allow the
goose to cool so it can be handled comfortably.
Drain the pan. Pat down the goose with paper
towels to remove the grease. Pat both
inside and outside. Stuff the goose.
Baste with the OJ-honey sauce, you can also throw some oranges in the cavity, fresh herbs and garlic.

Step Three:

Preheat oven to 325 or slightly cooler. Place goose on a roasting
pan in the oven. Cook goose using the rule of
about 25 minutes per pound but subtract 45 minutes because
of the cooking done in the first step. Rebaste
goose while cooking every half hour. It is not
necessary to turn the goose over in this step. When
done drumsticks should separate fairly easily
from the goose. Use same rules for doneness
as other poultry.


I would leave it on the bone Steve as it will have much better flavour

Roast Duck

I try and start w fresh Long Island ducks. They are usually cheaper and better than the D'artangian birds available at some butchers and supermarkets. Each weighs about 4.5lbs and feed 2 people each, maybe 5 people out of 2 ducks. There are bascically 2 steps.

1) Place ducks in stock pot that will accomodate the birds fairly level. Cover with water and add the usual stock fixings to the pot. (onions, celery, carrots, bay leaves, s&p, etc,etc.) Simmer the birds for an hour or 2 with the water just bubbling. The fat and foamy stuff can be spooned off the top every 20 mins or so. The birds should be firm enough to be lifted intact after cooking to a rack in a roasting pan, covered w foil, and held.

The liquid can be used to make a rice pilaf of your choice. Any leftover liquid can be saved to use the next time you make the dish and it comes out even better.

2) About 45-hour mins prior to serving. Remove foil and roast breast down for 20 mins at 425F. Turn over so breast side is up for the balance of the cooking time. I usually glaze the skin in the last 1/2 hour with Merello cherry jam. This makes a nice dark skin color and a unique flavor in the sauce.

The benefits of using this method are well done yet moist meat, skin that is crisp and tasty yet 100% of the fat has been rendered, and the high temp roasting is smokeless.
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