Michael wrote:
>>> I've never done just the breast. Have you? I wonder if it's less
>>> greasy than the whole goose.
>>
>> The recipe calls for you to pull off all the fat and just cook the
>> breast muscles. It's dark meat but definitely not greasy. The legs
>> are used in a different recipe and the rest of the goose (sans skin)
>> is used to make stock. I'm going to render the goose fat out of the
>> skin so I'll have it on hand for cooking potatoes or for confit.
>
> If you get time, can you post the recipe or send it to me. I would really
> like to have it. I don't think I have ever done a good goose. Thanks.
I posted this a few weeks ago. It's from _Fresh Ways With Poultry_:
Goose Breasts with Blackberry Sauce
Serves 4
1 9- to 10-pound goose, gizzard, neck, and heart reserved
2 cups red wine
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar or 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 onions, cut in eighths
2 carrots, sliced in 1/4-inch rounds
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme or 3/4 teaspoons dried thyme leaves
10 black peppercorns, crushed
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons safflower oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper
BLACKBERRY SAUCE
1 lb fresh or frozen blackberries, several whole berries reserved for
garnish, the remainder puréed and strained through a fine sieve
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons gin
Lay the goose on its back. Cut through the skin where a thigh joins the
body. Bend the leg outward to find the hip joint. Free the leg by cutting
around the ball at the end of the thigh bone and through the socket. Repeat
the process to remove the other leg. With a heavy knife or meat cleaver,
chop the knobs off the drumsticks.
Slit the breast skin lengthwise along the breastbone. Keeping the knife
pressed against the breastbone and then the rib cage, cut away each breast
half. Pull the skin and fat away from the breast meat as much as possible
with your hands, then use a small knife to finish the process. Pull the
skin off the legs. In a shallow dish, combine the wine, balsamic vinegar,
one quarter each of the onions and carrots, one third of the thyme, and the
peppercorns. Refrigerate the goose pieces in this marinade overnight.
Preheat the oven to 450°F.
To make the stock, first trim as much fat and skin from the goose carcass as
possible. With a meat cleaver or heavy knife, cut the carcass into two or
three pieces. Trim and roughly cut up the giblets and neck. Place the
bones and giblets in a heavy-bottomed roasting pan and brown them in the
oven for 15 minutes. Then add the remaining onions and carrots and cook for
15 minutes more.
Transfer the contents of the roasting pan to a stockpot. Pour off the fat
from the roasting pan, deglaze it with some more water, and pour the liquid
into the stockpot. Add enough water to the pot to cover the bones, then
bring the liquid to a boil and skim off the scum. Reduce the heat to
medium-low. Add the remaining thyme and the bay leaf. Simmer the stock for
two hours, then strain it into a saucepan and reduce it to about 2 1/2 cups.
Allow the stock to cool overnight in the refrigerator.
The next day, remove the breast halves from the marinade, leaving the legs
and marinade in the refrigerator. [See Note] Heat the oil in a
heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté the breast halves for
five minutes on their smooth side. Turn them in the pan and sprinkle 1/8
teaspoon of the salt and some pepper over the cooked sides. Sauté the
breast halves for three minutes more, then remove them from the skillet.
To prepare the sauce, skim the fat from the refrigerated stock. Add 1 cup of
the stock to the skillet along with the puréed blackberries, 2 tablespoons
of the marinade, the remaining 1/8 teaspoon of salt, the vinegar, and sugar.
Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-low heat. Add the breast halves to
the pan and simmer them for seven minutes, turning once. Remove them from
the sauce and set aside to keep warm. Raise the heat to medium and pour in
the gin. Cook the sauce, whisking frequently, until it is shiny and reduced
to 3/4 cup -- about 15 minutes.
Cut the breast halves along the grain into very thin slices. Arrange the
slices on a serving platter, pour the sauce over the top, and garnish with
the reserved whole berries.
NOTE: This recipe is part of a two-recipe set. The other recipe is for
braised goose legs with shiitake mushrooms, and it uses the goose legs and
marinade left over from this recipe. Since the skin isn't cooked in this
recipe, you won't have much in the way of goose fat. But you can simply
render the fat in a skillet if you want to make Yorkshire pudding or you
want the fat for some other use.
Bob
