Festive Oven-Roasted Goose with Quince

A variation on the theme of a favorite holiday dish of many European nations! In this recipe, I tried to collect the richest centuries-old experience of almost perfectly baked stuffed goose, introducing only a little of my understanding of the concept of preparing this dish. With such a long preparatory process, your goose is guaranteed to be soft and juicy (even if it’s not very young), with a well-fried and tinted crust. The poultry meat will have a pleasant aroma and a light sweet and sour taste of the fruit filling, emphasized by an exquisitely piquant sauce of apples, oranges, ginger and honey.
cook time: 5h
Noah Merrick
Festive Oven-Roasted Goose with Quince

Nutrition Facts (per serving)

184
Calories
9g
Fat
4g
Carbs
20g
Protein

Ingredients (8 portions)

Main ingredients:

Goose 4.5 kg
Salt 4.5 tsp
Ground black pepper 1 tsp
Herbal mixture g

For filling:

Quince 4 pc
Apples 2 pc
Oranges 1 pc
Ginger 30 g
Honey 1 tbsp
Lemons 1 pc
Herbal mixture g

For the sauce:

Apples 3 pc
Oranges 1 pc
Lemons 1 pc
Ginger 30 g
Honey 2 tbsp
White wine 50 ml
Dry spices 1 tsp
Allspice to taste
Salt 0.5 tsp

Recipe instructions

Step 1

Step 1
This photo shows a semi-finished goose ready for further use. The preliminary preparation of the above-mentioned poultry carcass will be discussed at the end of the recipe, since the description of the process takes up a lot of space, but the correct execution of this stage contains the main secret of obtaining a soft and juicy consistency of the meat of the finished dish, framed by a ruddy, beautiful and unusually aromatic crust.

Step 2

Step 2
Peel and cut the quince into slices, sprinkling it with lemon juice.

Step 3

Step 3
Using a blender, prepare puree from apples, orange and lemon juice and zest, juice from grated ginger. Add honey and a mixture of herbs and mix thoroughly until the honey dissolves.

Step 4

Step 4
Mix half the puree with quince slices and fill the bird carcass with this mixture to 3/4 of its volume.

Step 5

Step 5
Using a thick thread, we carefully sew up all the holes in our goose.

Step 6

Step 6
We protect the wings and leg stumps of the bird with foil to prevent them from burning during the long baking process of the dish.

Step 7

Step 7
Carefully rub the remaining half of the fruit and honey puree into the goose. Then we tie a figure eight around the legs of the bird with thin cotton twine, bringing the ends of the thread forward to the folds of the legs at the base of the carcass.

Step 8

Step 8
Turn the goose breast side down. We wrap the ends of our twine around the wings of the bird from the sides, pull it well and tie a knot on the back of the carcass.

Step 9

Step 9
Turn on the oven to maximum temperature. Using a toothpick, we make several punctures in the skin over the entire surface of the carcass and, especially in places where there is a lot of subcutaneous fat, we place the goose back up on a wire rack placed in a deep baking sheet. Pour a layer of hot water onto the bottom of the baking sheet (this is also a very important point!), about 1 cm. During the entire baking time of the bird, you need to pour the rendered fat over the carcass 2-3 times an hour.

Step 10

Step 10
In this position, we keep the goose in the oven at maximum temperature for about 30-40 minutes, giving the back the opportunity to brown well.

Step 11

Step 11
Then carefully turn the bird over, breast side up, and, if necessary, add warm water to the baking sheet. You will have to constantly monitor the water level so that the goose languishes at relatively high humidity. Then the meat is guaranteed not to be overdried! And fat in a baking pan without water will burn, smoke and in every possible way complicate our process of preparing for the celebration. Reduce the temperature in the oven to 150 degrees and put the baking sheet with the goose in place.

Step 12

Step 12
After another 30-45 minutes, take 200-250 ml of melted goose fat from the baking sheet and pour it into a saucepan, adding honey and 50 ml of white wine (or cognac, rum, whiskey, vermouth). Letʼs put our vessel on low heat.

Step 13

Step 13
We repeat step No. 3, but without honey. That is, we make puree from green apples, orange juice and zest, lemon juice and zest, juice from grated ginger root and add a mixture of dry herbs. We pour all this beauty into the fat boiling in a saucepan with honey and wine. Stir thoroughly until the sauce boils, add a little salt and pepper. After 15 minutes, try the sauce. It should be sweet and sour. Bring it to taste. If necessary, add lemon juice.

Step 14

Step 14
When finished, our sauce should have a consistency slightly thinner than sour cream and have a pleasant yellowish-creamy tint. The taste will be balanced, sweet and sour, with a pleasant hint of spice and a light aroma of ginger and wine. Cover with a lid and wait for the main dish to be ready.

Step 15

Step 15
Approximately 3-3.5 hours after the start of the process, you can cut the fetters on the bird’s legs for better baking of the skin in the folds near the body. If, when you pierce the chicken leg with a toothpick, clear juice comes out in the thickest part, then raise the temperature to 220-240 degrees, pour the rendered fat over the bird and wait 15-20 minutes until the crust is completely fried. We lay out the goose, remove the seams, take out the quince and don’t forget about the sauce! Bon appetit

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