Goose is a particular favourite of mine, a simply superb meat that is something between perfect duck and pigeon. It is best cooked with fruit. Stuff the bird with a mixture of apples and pears, or oranges and prunes. They flavour the meat while it cooks and cut through the slightly fatty taste. For added richness stuff the neck-skin is stuffed.
A goose of three kilos serves six people, with nothing to spare, so buy sufficient birds. They are significantly smaller than turkeys, so will fit in your oven. Geese are quite bony, so there seems to be much more meat than there actually is.
These quantities are for every three-kilo goose.
For stuffing the cavity: 500g of apples, salt and pepper, 250g of prunes (I use Good Earth’s), the juice of one orange and one lemon, two tablespoonfuls of honey, two tablespoonfuls of finely chopped rosemary, four tablespoonfuls of olive oil.
For stuffing the neck: the goose-liver (diced), four tablespoonfuls of olive oil, a Malta-grown leek (white part only, finely chopped), 200g of chestnut puree, 50g of minced pork, one egg, four cloves of garlic (peeled and crushed), two tablespoonfuls of finely chopped parsley , two tablespoonfuls of thyme leaves, one Maltese sausage (skinned and crumbled), one thick slice of Maltese bread, soaked in milk.
To stuff the cavity: peel the apples, chop them and the prunes, stir them into the rest of the ingredients, and stuff the goose.
To stuff the neck: mix all the neck stuffing ingredients together until they are well combined. Stuff the neck-skin, pushing the stuffing in towards the breast. Close up the skin with toothpicks, small metal skewers or stitch it up.
To roast the goose: preheat the oven as high as it goes. Place the goose in a roasting-pan, drizzle it with olive oil, sprinkle it with salt and add some wine to the pan. Put it in the oven and turn it down to gas mark 3/175C, letting the goose roast for about two hours and basting frequently with the pan juices To check whether it is done, prick the thigh and the juices should run clear, not pink. Only do this if you are really unsure as much juice is lost this way.
To make the gravy: lift the goose out of the pan. Pour off the extra fat, which will be floating on the surface. It doesn’t matter if a little is left behind. Put the roasting-pan over a flame on the hob. Bring the juices to the boil, scraping down the sides of the pan as it boils, adding some wine or port, the juice of an orange, a spoonful of honey and some stock. Boil it well, then taste it and add salt and pepper if necessary. At this point, you can thicken it if needed, by adding some beurre manie, or corn flour stirred into water.
To serve: carve the goose carefully and serve it with some stuffing, fruit and gravy.