Christmas is a great holiday. You get to cook fancy meals, you have an excuse to drink expensive wine, and you get to buy presents. The stores are crowded, and the weather is usually beautiful. At least here in Houston.
But more than that, it is Doreen’s birthday! She had the good fortune to be born on Christmas day, and so the world celebrates with her.
I cooked another goose this year (I am trying to remember exactly how many geese I have cooked. The first one I cooked was back in the winter of 1980 - my first Christmas away from home on my own. My younger brother Matthew came down (I think he was 17 years old at the time) and I had invited a young student from Rice to join us as well. I had never cooked a goose before, but I use Graham Kerr’s recipe and it turned out great. Or at least that was my memory of that goose. That and the memory of the goose leg bone slowly being ground up in my garbage disposal. (Yes, I have always said that the garbage disposal (aka Fruit Grinder) was the most underutilized kitchen appliance. I have pt artichoke leaves (bad idea) corn husks (same) and any number of other organic matter down my garbage disposals in my lifetime. I have pretty much stopped that, as it causes all sorts of harm to the plumbing. Now, if given a choice, I throw kitchen waste into our neighbor’s back yard. But that is another story.)
I like cooking geese. Store bought geese, anyway. I have never cooked a wild goose. I am not sure if there would be a difference or not. The thing about geese is that there is a think layer of subcutaneous fat that you need to take care of is you want the meat to be juicy instead of greasy. In my younger days I did that by starting the goose in a very hot oven, pricking the skin and then turning the heat down to finish the bird at a lower temp. Now, thanks to Cook’s Illustrated Magazine, I have a long and complicated routine I follow. Here is a sample:
For the goose, fill a large stock pot two-thirds of the way with water and bring to a rolling boil. Wearing rubber gloves to protect your hands, lower the goose neck end down into boiling water below. Submerge as much of the goose as possible until 'goose bumps' appear, about 1 minute. Repeat this process, tail end down first. Drain goose and dry thoroughly, inside and out, with paper towels. Set goose, breast side up, on rack in roasting pan and refrigerate, uncovered, for 24 to 48 hours.
And it gets more complicated from there. This year I used an apple/prune stuffing – sometimes I use a couscous/dried fruit (apricot, current) stuffing. The apple/pear is more traditional. The couscous is more interesting.
In addition to the goose and stuffing (the crispy skin of the goose is one of the pleasures of the season, I can assure you of that) we have red cabbage (another Graham Kerr recipe that is modified by Doreen based on her German heritage), Mashed potatoes, cauliflower gratin (to die for – a pound of butter, a pound of cheese, cream, nutmeg and you just can’t eat enough of this), little green peas (for green color to go with the red cabbage) and gravy.
We had a total of six people eating dinner with us this year, and we pretty much did in the goose. In spite of their size (this was a 12 pounder) geese don’t have much meat on them. We ended the meal with one of Trouta’s delicious marble pound cake, a tradition for Doreen’s birthday. We made some fudge sauce and had ice cream as well.
But more than that, it is Doreen’s birthday! She had the good fortune to be born on Christmas day, and so the world celebrates with her.
I cooked another goose this year (I am trying to remember exactly how many geese I have cooked. The first one I cooked was back in the winter of 1980 - my first Christmas away from home on my own. My younger brother Matthew came down (I think he was 17 years old at the time) and I had invited a young student from Rice to join us as well. I had never cooked a goose before, but I use Graham Kerr’s recipe and it turned out great. Or at least that was my memory of that goose. That and the memory of the goose leg bone slowly being ground up in my garbage disposal. (Yes, I have always said that the garbage disposal (aka Fruit Grinder) was the most underutilized kitchen appliance. I have pt artichoke leaves (bad idea) corn husks (same) and any number of other organic matter down my garbage disposals in my lifetime. I have pretty much stopped that, as it causes all sorts of harm to the plumbing. Now, if given a choice, I throw kitchen waste into our neighbor’s back yard. But that is another story.)
I like cooking geese. Store bought geese, anyway. I have never cooked a wild goose. I am not sure if there would be a difference or not. The thing about geese is that there is a think layer of subcutaneous fat that you need to take care of is you want the meat to be juicy instead of greasy. In my younger days I did that by starting the goose in a very hot oven, pricking the skin and then turning the heat down to finish the bird at a lower temp. Now, thanks to Cook’s Illustrated Magazine, I have a long and complicated routine I follow. Here is a sample:
For the goose, fill a large stock pot two-thirds of the way with water and bring to a rolling boil. Wearing rubber gloves to protect your hands, lower the goose neck end down into boiling water below. Submerge as much of the goose as possible until 'goose bumps' appear, about 1 minute. Repeat this process, tail end down first. Drain goose and dry thoroughly, inside and out, with paper towels. Set goose, breast side up, on rack in roasting pan and refrigerate, uncovered, for 24 to 48 hours.
And it gets more complicated from there. This year I used an apple/prune stuffing – sometimes I use a couscous/dried fruit (apricot, current) stuffing. The apple/pear is more traditional. The couscous is more interesting.
In addition to the goose and stuffing (the crispy skin of the goose is one of the pleasures of the season, I can assure you of that) we have red cabbage (another Graham Kerr recipe that is modified by Doreen based on her German heritage), Mashed potatoes, cauliflower gratin (to die for – a pound of butter, a pound of cheese, cream, nutmeg and you just can’t eat enough of this), little green peas (for green color to go with the red cabbage) and gravy.
We had a total of six people eating dinner with us this year, and we pretty much did in the goose. In spite of their size (this was a 12 pounder) geese don’t have much meat on them. We ended the meal with one of Trouta’s delicious marble pound cake, a tradition for Doreen’s birthday. We made some fudge sauce and had ice cream as well.
We had visions of sugar plums in out head that
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