Roasted goose with a prune stuffing and spiced apples
Roasted goose is traditionally served on Christmas Day in Germany, but also increasingly it is the sophisticated choice adorning British tables, as a tastier alternative to turkey. Here is cordon-bleu trained chef Emma Tinne’s recipe for delicious roasted goose with prune stuffing and spiced apples. If not for Christmas, then it is a great Boxing Day option.
A goose weighing 9-11lb (4-5kg) should be enough for 5-6 people. When you roast a goose it releases a lot of fat, so halfway through the cooking take the goose out of the oven and ladle off the half inch of fat that will have accumulated in the roasting tray. This can be used to make delicious roasted potatoes, or you can store it in the fridge where it will keep for a few months.
Ingredients
1x 4-5kg oven-ready goose with giblets, serves 6
Prune stuffing:
225g dried prunes (soaked overnight in water)
liver from the goose
175g fresh, white breadcrumbs
1/2 teaspoon of powdered mace
salt and pepper
75g butter
Spiced apples:
6 coxes apples
100g sultanas
100g soft brown sugar
1 teaspoon of mixed spice
100g butter
a few cloves
Method
Heat the oven to 200 C. Wipe the goose and remove the giblets. Simmer the pre-soaked prunes in water or orange juice for ten minutes. Drain, puree and add the prunes to the liver, breadcrumbs, mace, seasoning and butter. Pack this stuffing into the tail end of the bird.
Prick the goose all over and place on a roasting tray. Cover the goose with buttered greaseproof paper. Cook at 200 C for 30 minutes and then reduce the temperature to 180 C and calculate your remaining cooking time, allowing 20 minutes per 450g, plus 20 minutes. Halfway through cooking take the goose out of the oven and ladle or pour off the fat, which can be used to roast potatoes. 45 minutes before the end of your cooking time, remove the greaseproof paper.
For the spiced apples, remove the core of the apples and run the sharp knife blade around the centre of the apple. Melt the butter in a pan and add in the sultanas, sugar, and spice. Stuff the apples with this warm mixture, and place two cloves on top. Add a knob of butter on the top of each apple. When you take the greaseproof paper off your goose (45 minutes before the end of the cooking time) place the stuffed apples in their own tray in the oven to roast.
Serve with a thin gravy, which can be made the day before and reheated. A compote of red plums is also very good with roast goose.
Recommended butchers are: HG Walters, 51 Palliser Road, Barons Court, London W14 9EB, tel: 020 7385 6466, and C Lidgates, 110 Holland Park Avenue, W11 4UA, tel: 020 7727 8243.
Please contact Emma Tinne if you have any questions.
