Christmas Goose
 

Has anyone ever made a Christmas Goose? I made one once, many years ago. I used a Julia Child recipe that required you to steam the goose first to rid it of much of the excess fat, then bake it. It was delicious! I don't even know where to find a goose these days.

I miss Julia Child. She was special.

I've cooked goose before, they are semi-easily available frozen but not always carried especially in smaller markets but you can typically request one from the butcher. I've been seeing them out for the holidays, they are significantly higher priced than turkey or duck. I do a pretty basic treatment, throw in some celery, onions and carrots and herbs in large chunks and throw it all in the oven.

The wall oven in my house is not the standard size used today and to replace it basically meant a full kitchen remodel, which I had planned but when I stopped working we had to use the funds to bridge the pay gap, it's been over 10 years since I had a working oven. I do really good with my toaster oven, the charcoal weber grill (I can cook up to a 12 pound or so turkey on that...) and the stove top but I don't think I could handle a goose.

I think the hubby now that he is keto would love the goose fat. It is high on my list of things to do when I have an oven again. I'm hoping by this time next year to be back among the group of "those that have ovens".

I have cooked a goose but I draped it in bacon. I cooked it on low for a long time. The same with duck, except I do not put bacon on that. I like a very crispy skin. I liked the duck better then the goose but then the goose we had was older.

tropit- when Paul was in the hospital we watched a French cook every Sunday. He was so interesting but I forgot his name. He was on PBS and his recipes were wonderful.
I don't know a thing about geese lol
Yes, Julia Child was wonderful!

Yes. One , and only one. Many many years ago my first husband was raising geese. They were very cute, had a light to keep them warm. He went out to feed them one morning before work and one bit him. He grabbed it by the neck , brought it into the kitchen, slung it into the sink said here cook this for dinner. It took me a long time to gut and pluck the feathers out. By that time I figured that it was too big for just us and I needed to call somebody to come eat dinner with us. I did. Baked it.
Never raised another goose. He went on to raise rabbits. But that’s another story.

Was it Jacques Pépin?

Julia child lived in the Santa Barbara area for many years. We lived just over the hill and so SB was our "Big Town," where we went to do our shopping, go to movies and eat out. One time, when my dau was a young teen and an avid foodie, we went out to dinner. Who was sitting just 2 tables away? Julia! My dau was absolutely beside herself! She so wanted to go talk to her and to find out what she was eating, but I wouldn't let her barge in at her table. It just wasn't polite. So, my dau was constantly craning her neck as the waiter brought Julia's food out. The whole thing was kind of embarrassing, but my dau never forgot it.

Yes! It was Jacques!!!
Omg, you saw Julia, how cool !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have you looked into a portable oven? I have 2, old, electric, Dutch ovens that we pull out for the holidays. We have to start up the generator so we can leave the lights on at the same time while things are cooking in them. :D They're power hogs, but they do work great in a pinch. You can find them cheap on Ebay.

Now I have to check our local grocery store to see if they have a goose to cook up. I don't know where Julia's recipe went. I'll have to look online to see if I can find something similar. My dau would love having a goose for Christmas dinner.

The modern toaster ovens are pretty amazing, this one also has the convection fan. I can fit a pretty large oblong pan in there. No sheets of cookies or loaves of bread though! Sometimes it is good to be low carb.

There are some differences and there are times when there are some distinct advantages and I believe I will continue to have one even after I have an oven again. For one, I would just take it outside in the summer, set it up on a cooler with a large cutting board for a surface, plug into the outside outlet and could bake things without heating up the inside of the house.

I've found that I prefer doing some things on top the stove, like pot roast I'd rather simmer than bake. Same thing with corned beef (one of the hubby's favorites). LOL meatloaf though -- that's probably best in the toaster oven.

I also prefer to do some things out on the grill. I like playing with fire and charcoal, gas would be convenient but we go the charcoal route. I always prefer to do my leg of lamb on the grill. Sometimes we will do just a small portion of something on the grill, but often we will cook ahead for several meals. So maybe we would be having steak that night but also cooking pork spare ribs or burgers for the next day. You can even do take home/you cook pizzas -- lovely crust.

We are planning our Family Christmas menu, and are looking at either prime rib and goose, or steaks and king crab legs. We love doing big feasts for our get togethers. We did the traditional feast for Thanksgiving, so looking for a nice change for Christmas. It's been awhile since we've done goose....mouth is watering just thinking about it!

I’m a Midwest farm kid and my Aunt, Grandma and Mother all raised geese and ducks so we ate them for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years every year. Stuffed with bread stuffing and oven roasted. Oh my, did the house smell good. Leftovers were set out in the cold porch for the next day. Those good cooks are all gone now but my cousin and I take turns roasting a duck and eat together around New Years for old times sake. I start it out in a 400 degree oven for 30 to 40 minutes then lower to 325 or 350 until done. I strive to get a deep brown crispy skin so I uncover some of the time. Now I’m hungry.

Would this happen to be the recipe you used years ago?

https://www.saveur.com/article/Recip...Roasted-Goose/

Never tried "Roasted Goose". Is it like duck, in that it is mostly dark meat? My first thought for finding one was that they are on the golf courses around here. They stay all winter. Not that I am a hunter, I would prefer one from the grocery store. Don't think I have ever seen one frozen. I'll have to look.

OMG! I think that's it!!! Thank you!

Now...to find a goose. :)

Goose is similar to duck, a dark meat, and "greasy", but it is wonderfully moist. They are not the golf course variety! We often see them frozen in the grocery stores, more so around Christmas. The butcher shops around the area also usually have them. They do tend to be pricey, but for us, worth the price.

Every evening after supper, I would read a chapter or two to our 3 children. We were on the "Little House on the Prairie" books and each time a food was mentioned that they had never eaten, we would make it. The goose was one of those so we got a frozen one and tried it. I had never cooked one before and this was pre-you tube days so I was basically without good information or videos to show us what to do. My mother had never cooked one either so my phone call to her didn't help. I'm sure it was my fault when the final decision from everyone was to never have goose again. And we never have.

All the meat is dark. Stores sell domestic duck, not wild duck. I’ve never eaten wild duck, nor do I want to.

Thanks Anniedeb, I have always wondered if it was similar. Sounds like it is. I thought my husband who's family was from PA would have tried it.

Tranum, Being in the South, I've only had wild duck. Not worth it in my opinion almost all dark meat. Duck hunters always have to be out early on our coldest, wettest, bone chilling day.

I have never cooked or tasted roasted goose or duck. But I have a friend, whose husband is an avid hunter. She shared some roasted wild turkey with us. Ummm...have to say, not a fan. Very strong taste and quite 'chewy'. I'll stick with the store bought variety.

She also gave me a package of bear sausage, which is languishing in my freezer. I just cannot bring myself to cook it.

My goodness...I found a goose at our local store. I don't believe it! So...we're having goose for Christmas dinner. I'm definitely going to use the Julia Child recipe. She tells you to steam it first, to render much of the fat out of it, before it is roasted in the oven. I remember that the taste was rich, moist, but not greasy. Overall, it was pretty good!

Today, I'm going to shop for all of the sides. I'm not sure what I'm going to make to go with the goose. I like the idea of "Rosemary Popovers." They're kind of like Yorkshire Puddings. Easy to make too. Now, I need veggies and other sides.

What fun! Seems to me that it might be a time to investigate chestnuts. One of our local Asian markets used to have a hot roasted chestnut stand outside, don't know the status since Covid.,,

We do not have plans yet for Christmas, but our New Year's tradition is a duck. Specifically, a duck from Seattle International District institution, Kau Kau. We have easier places to get that style, but hubby likes to make a yearly venture into the city. Always was too small and crowded so will be ordered and picked up to go.
\https://www.kaukaubbq.com/

Wow...I looked that up. Looks very interesting and tasty!

My goodness!!! Was in my local grocery store & walked past the freezer case. There were frozen geese for sale at --- hold on--- $79.00 each!!!!!! For all of 9#s of bird!! Guess I know why my family never had goose for holidays! I know I sure won't.
sewverybusy1

As a kid we had one once. The meat was to greasy for me. All that dark meat was special since I like dark meat on a bird but the greasy meat was a bit to much for my taste. I am sure it was not done the Julia Child's way.

Update on the Christmas Goose. It was very good! Not greasy at all. That steaming really helped. My Dau was supposed to help me with the dinner, but she had worked the day before and was exhausted. She had a sip of wine and fell asleep on the couch. :( I had to prepare the entire meal by myself. Some things suffered...the Rosemary Popovers didn't make it and the Brussels Sprouts came out soggy, but the goose was delicious!

My dad did not like to hunt with anyone else. Said it was a good way to get shot! He grew up in the woods and really knew what he was shooting at and usually got it on the first shot. Anyway, he would go where noone else wanted to go. No corn field feed deer for him. He was out looking for the swamp bucks. Yikes, they had such a wild tast. I did have moose once and it was actually quite good. Did not care at all for the duck we got from a neighbor. wild partridge was pretty good as was lake trout.