Golden Goose
We are finally in the month of December which means Xmas is right around the corner. It seems like time has flown by! But, I should not be surprised as our town was decked out in Christmas decorations (well lit), Santa (Father Christmas) & friends whizzed in to greet kids and spread Xmas goodwill the third week in November.
This year we have family staying for the holidays and I have decided to make a few changes to my traditional holiday dishes. The biggest change is the main dish. Instead of turkey being the star of the show it will be goose. The change came about when one of my guests proposed – I buy the goose and you cook it. Change is good and here is my Christmas Goose recipe.
Ingredients:
4-5kg (10lbs) Goose (trimmed), 1 small onion grated, 1 tsp of honey, 1 tsp Fehmalee’s Kitchen Base Seasoning, 1 tsp five spice powder, ¼ grated ginger root, 2 cloves of garlic pureed, 1 tsp soy sauce, 3 tbsp dry sherry.
Brine
4 litres water, 1tbs orange zest and the juice of 2 orange, 150g sea salt, 1tbs black peppercorns, 1 cinnamon stick, 1tbs Fehmalee’s Kitchen flavour enhancer, 4 cloves, 1 tbsp allspice berries, 4 star anise, 2 bay leaves, 100g brown sugar, 2 onions (quartered), ½ fresh root ginger (grated), 1 bunch of fresh thyme, 5 garlic cloves (thinly sliced)
Instructions:
Put the water into your largest cooking pot or a bucket or plastic bin. Add all brine ingredients then stir to combine.
Add the goose to liquid, topping up with more water if it is not completely submerged.
Keep covered in a cold place for 1-2 days for all the ingredients to infuse meat. When ready to cook, pat goose dry with kitchen paper and allow it to get to room temperature (1-2 hours).
Preheat oven to 180c. Once at room temperature gently prick goose skin ( all around goose) with a sharp knife. Place on a tray and set a side. Combine the onion, honey, base seasoning, five spice powder, juice from ginger root, garlic, soy sauce and dry sherry in a bowl and using your hands massage the entire goose (also in the cavity) with seasoning. Once fully covered, place goose on a trivet in a deep baking tray. Place in middle shelf of oven and cook for 3 hours basing every hour. The goose is cooked when the leg meat falls off the bone. Once cooked, remove from oven and cover with tin foil for 30 minutes. Then serve.
Enjoy!
