Goose Two Ways & Gascon Stuffing
An irresistible dish to pair with ‘Barolo Girl’ Giulia Negri’s iconic wine – Barolo La Tartufaia Giulia Negri 2013.
On December 23
1) Cut the legs off your goose, place skin side down in a shallow dish. Sprinkle the meat with rock salt, crushed black pepper and chopped thyme. Cover and refrigerate.
2) Remove any loose fat from the body of the goose. Put in a pan with a little water and cook gently until the fat is rendered.
On December 24
1) Wipe the salt, garlic etc off the legs. Cover with the rendered fat and add some more fat or vegetable oil to ensure they are fully covered, protect with tin foil or parchment.
2) Bake at 120C for about 2 hours until a skewer will pass through the thigh. Allow to cool in the fat.
On December 25
For the Stuffing
- The goose liver
- 1 medium onion
- 4 handfuls cubed white bread
- 6 prunes – ideally soaked overnight in Armagnac or use soft prunes.
- 1 tbs chopped parsley
- 1 tbs chopped thyme
- 1 egg
Method
1) Chop the onion and cook gently in a little goose fat or butter.
2) Season and quickly pan-fry the liver – it doesn’t need to cook inside, we are just caramelising the exterior. Chop the prunes and the liver and remove from the heat.
3) Add the bread, herbs, egg, salt, pepper and enough water, milk or armagnac to create a soggy mixture.
3) Melt a little goose fat in a dish and put the stuffing on top.
For the Goose
1) Pre-heat the oven to 180C.
2) Score the skin of the bird all over. Set a large frying pan on a medium heat and place the goose with one breast down in the pan and slowly brown the skin whilst pouring off the fat that comes out. Alternate between the breasts and turn the body over to do the same on the underside. Remember to keep pouring off the fat.
3) Once browned, put the goose in the oven. This should take 25-40 minutes to cook, depending on how pink you like it. Whilst the bird is resting turn the oven up to 230C and roast the confit leg and stuffing for 20 minutes.
