Have Yourself a Traditional Christmas Goose

It’s the final countdown for Christmas. My marker for this, of course, is when companies bombard you with their “last day for ground shipping” deadline emails.

In the midst of finishing off (or maybe starting off) your Christmas gifts perhaps you have found some time to get out to goose hunt. There are multiple species, and sub-species, of geese in North America with the Canada Goose being the most abundant… And also the best eating!

Traditionally speaking, goose is a Christmas favorite. Fans of Dickens will remember these famous lines describing the bird as a Christmas meal in A Christmas Carol: “There never was such a goose…Its tenderness and flavor, size and cheapness were the themes of universal admiration.”

Here is a great and easy recipe to get the most Dicksonian “tenderness and flavor” out of your goose meat. This recipe includes the entire goose. ~There are also great ways to prepare just a goose appetizer dish or just the goose breasts that are a little less messy and are super easy but I thought this recipe best to post for a Christmas dinner type meal.

Goose Mom’s Way 
AKA “How To Go From the Field To a Delicious Rotisserie Goose Dinner”

Main Tools Needed:
– A hatchet and friends
– Grill with rotisserie
Ingredients List:
– Plenty of olive oil, butter, S&P
– 1 quart beef stock
– 1 pint current jelly
– 1 cup orange juice

1. Kill a couple of Geese (or find and befriend an enthusiastic bird hunter)
2. Messy part: Use your best hatchet (or very sharp pruning sheers) to cut off the wings, head, and neck
where they meet the body. Best to do this outside on a tree stump, if possible.
3. Longest step: take off all the feathers (good for older kids to help with)
4. Use a meat cleaver, poultry sheers, or bigass knife to cut off the triangular part that makes up the tail area– this is how you will access the bird’s innards
5. Another messy part: reach up into the bird with your hand and take all the innards out
6. Wash inner cavity with cold water and pat dry
7. Get your grill going and put the goose on the rotisserie
8. Use a basting brush with olive oil, melted butter, S&P, and favorite spices (we really like ground thyme) on the bird as it rotates
9. Leave on the rotisserie for about 15-20 minutes (depends on your grill)
~A goose is a very lean bird (unlike a turkey) so crispy skin and very rare meat is the best combo here.
10. Remove from rotisserie to carving board and let it sit 10+ minutes
11. While the bird is resting, prepare the following sauce:
12. In a saucepan, combine beef stock, current jelly, orange juice, S&P
13. Get the mixture really boiling (rolling boil) for 10 full minutes so it reduces
14. Carve bird thinly and put slices in a dish deep enough to hold the sauce, don’t be alarmed by the rareness
15. Pour the piping hot sauce over the meat immediately (sauce will cook the meat a little more)
16. Salt more as needed

Note: If you have a willing butcher, you can skip steps 2-6 and have your butcher prep the bird for you.

Some Parting Facts:
– Goose fat is the softest in its animal category. Meaning its fat melts into liquid at a lower heat than other animals like it.
– The Middle Ages feast of Michaelmas, celebrating the winter solstice and honoring the end of the harvest, featured goose.
– The Vikings roasted goose as a harvest offering to their god’s Thor and Odin.

– To get more information about Goose hunting in your state, check out your local Division of Natural Resources’ website. As with all hunting, it is important to be well informed of your local laws and regulations.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!