Roast Goose Recipe - Great British Chefs

Prized for it's rich fat (for the ultimate crispy roast potatoes), roast goose makes a wonderful alternative to turkey for a festive feast. Martin Wishart accompanies his goose with a wintry chestnut and pear stuffing, and braised red cabbage.

Ingredients

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Goose

1 goose, weighing 5kg, oven-ready
2 tbsp of vegetable oil
5 carrots, peeled
1 tbsp of brown sugar
100ml of red wine vinegar
5 tbsp of redcurrant jelly
150ml of chicken stock
1 bunch of watercress leaves
salt
pepper

Chestnut and pear stuffing

6 pork sausages
1 egg
300g of chestnuts, cooked
2 pears, ripened
1 bunch of marjoram, chopped
white pepper

Braised red cabbage

150g of unsalted butter
450g of red cabbage, finely sliced
150ml of water
3 tbsp of caster sugar
50ml of white wine vinegar
1 Bramley apple, peeled and grated
salt

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To make the cabbage, set the oven to 180˚C/Gas mark 4. Melt the butter in a pan, add the cabbage and cook gently with a pinch of salt for 3 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to the boil

450g of red cabbage
150g of unsalted butter
salt
150ml of water
3 tbsp of caster sugar
50ml of white wine vinegar
1 Bramley apple

Cover with a paper cartouche and cook in the oven for about 1 hour or until the liquid is reduced to a glaze and the cabbage is soft

Make the stuffing by removing the meat from the sausage skins and placing it in a bowl with the egg. Cut the chestnuts into small, even pieces and add them to the sausage meat

Peel and core the pears then cut them into small, even pieces and add to the sausage meat along with the marjoram and some freshly ground white pepper

2 pears
1 bunch of marjoram
white pepper

Remove all the fat from inside the goose and prick the skin several times all over with a fork. Place the bird in the sink and carefully pour three full kettles of boiling water over it

1 5kg goose

Dry the goose with kitchen paper, then leave it for an hour or so to dry completely. This will help the skin to crisp while cooking

Season the cavity of the goose with salt and pepper and stuff it with the pear and chestnut stuffing. Rub the breasts and legs with 2tbsp vegetable oil and season generously with salt

salt
pepper
2 tbsp of vegetable oil

Lay the carrots in the middle of a very large roasting tin and sit the bird the right way up on top of them – this stops the goose sitting in its fat as it cooks

5 carrots

Cover the bird and tin with a large piece of foil, scrunching it up at the sides so it’s a tight fit, and place in the oven for 1 hour 30 minutes

Take the goose out of the oven. Remove the foil and carefully use a baster to suck out most of the fat from the tin into a bowl, then lightly baste the goose

Re-cover with foil and roast for another hour. Suck the fat from the pan again and baste the bird, then increase the heat to 220˚C/Gas mark 7

Return the goose to the oven without any foil to brown for 30 minutes until golden, then remove it from the oven and transfer it to a large board or platter to rest in a warm place for 30 minutes

Keep the roasting tin contents for making the gravy. Discard the carrots or keep them for another dish

To make the gravy, pour off all the fat from the roasting tin into a bowl (it can be used for roasting potatoes). Sprinkle the sugar into the tin and stir to scrape off any tasty brown bits

1 tbsp of brown sugar

Add the vinegar and simmer down until practically dry, then stir in the jelly to dissolve. Add the stock and bring everything to the boil. Strain through a fine sieve into a saucepan to reheat