Ingredients:
- 1 x 4.5kg/10lb oven-ready goose, with giblets
- sunflower oil
- 2kg/4½lb floury potatoes, such as Maris Piper
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the gravy- 4 rashers streaky bacon, chopped
- goose giblets
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 carrot, chopped
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 1.2 litres/2 pints water
- 2 bay leaves
- 6 black peppercorns
For the sage and onion stuffing- 3 large onions, finely chopped
- 500g/1lb 2oz fresh white breadcrumbs
- 1 lemon, finely grated zest only
- 4 tbsp chopped fresh sage
- 3 tbsp chopped curly leaf parsley
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 large egg, beaten (about 3tbsp)
For the apple sauce- 4 Cox's apples, peeled, cored and sliced
- 120ml/4 fl oz water
Preheat the oven to
220C/425F/Gas 7. Remove all the clumps of excess fat from the inside of
the goose cavity. Put them into a pan with a little sunflower oil and
leave on a very low heat until melted, then pass through a fine sieve into
a bowl. (This makes a beautiful frying medium for the roast potatoes, and
chips too.)
For the stuffing, fry the onions in about 75g/3oz of the goose fat until
soft and very lightly browned. Stir into the breadcrumbs with the lemon
zest, sage, parsley and plenty of salt and pepper to taste. Stir in enough
beaten egg to bind the mixture together.
Weigh the goose and calculate the cooking time, allowing 14 minutes per
450g/1lb. Season the cavity of the goose with salt and pepper and then
spoon in the stuffing. Seal the opening with a metal skewer.
Season the skin of the goose with salt and place it on a rack set over a
large roasting tin. Roast the goose for 30 minutes. Remove it from the
oven and lower the temperature to 180C/350F/Gas 4. You need to pour off
the excess fat from the roasting tin. The easiest way to do this is to
lift the goose onto a board with two clean tea towels (you don't want to
pierce the skin by using forks), pour off the fat into a bowl and then
replace the goose on the rack. Return it to the oven and roast it for a
further 1 hour 50 minutes. Pour off more fat after another 30 minutes.
In the meantime, for the gravy, fry the bacon, giblets and vegetables in a
little goose fat until golden brown. Pour off the excess fat, add the
water, bay leaves and peppercorns and simmer for 1 hour. Strain through a
sieve and set aside.
Peel the potatoes, cut them into large chunks and boil them for 7 minutes
in water salted at the rate of 1 teaspoon per 600ml/1 pint. They should be
soft on the outside but still slightly hard in the centre. Drain well,
then shake them around in the pan with a lid on to give the edges a sandy
texture. After the goose has been cooking at the lower temperature for 1
hour, remove from the oven and lift it and the rack off the roasting tin.
Add the potatoes to the tin and turn them over so that they all become
well-coated in the fat. Pour off any excess fat, replace the goose and
continue to roast for the remainder of the cooking time.
When the goose is cooked, the juices from the thigh should run clear when
pierced with a skewer. Lift it onto a board, cover it with foil and leave
it to rest for at least 20 minutes. Turn the potatoes over if necessary,
return the roasting tin to the oven and increase the oven temperature to
220C/425F/Gas Mark 7. Roast the potatoes for approximately another 20
minutes or until crisp and golden. Remove and transfer to a serving dish.
Turn off the oven and return the dish of potatoes to the oven to keep
warm. Set the roasting tin over a source of heat, add the giblet stock and
deglaze the tin by rubbing the base with a wooden spoon. Season to taste
and pass through a sieve into a gravy boat.
For the apple sauce, put the prepared apples and water into a pan and
simmer for 12-15 minutes, stirring now and then, until soft and smooth. I
like to serve it unseasoned. Keep warm.
Not being a very neat carver, I like to carve in the kitchen and take the
slices of goose to the table on a large warm plate. (Cut off the legs and
cut each one in half, then carve the breast meat away from each side into
long, thin slices). I serve the stuffing, apple sauce and gravy
separately, with some sprouts, the roast potatoes and the swede, carrot
and potato purée.