Does anybody cook a goose for Christmas?

[Disneyrsh]

Ok, maybe I've been watching the Muppet's Christmas Carol too often, but I was wondering about cooking a goose for Christmas this year instead of a turkey. Has anybody done it? What does it taste like? (Please don't tell me, tastes just like chicken ) How hard/easy is it to cook? Details, please?!

 

[GrayFal]

Nope!

But from what I understand, it is similar to duck in that it doesn't have too much meat....
hard to believe NOBODY has cooked their own goose (okay, I just couldn't resist!)
Good Night

 

[piratesmate]

Actually, I cooked a good the first year we lived in this house. We rent half a farm house & the landlords raised ducks, geese & turkeys in addition to having milk cows & doing crop farming. Every year at Christmas they'd give us a bird. One brother retired & the other gave up the birds so we don't get them anymore.

Anyway, the first year they gave us a goose. I did it the same way you'd do a turkey. I hated it! It was soooo greasy! I'm diabetic & eat a low fat diet. I'd stuffed the silly thing, & I felt the filling was inedible because of the fat. DH didn't mind the meat (he likes dark because it's moister - read fattier) but even he couldn't eat much of the filling. And you're right - there wasn't all that much meat on it either.

They asked DS, who was 6 at the time, how he liked the goose & he told them very seriously "I found it to be a tad on the greasy side. I didn't much care for it." (Yes, he was one of those kids that was 4 going on 40!)

The next year they gave us a couple ducks. They must have asked someone when I wasn't around, because after that we always got a turkey. I'd never have said anything because I felt it was a gracious gift, but I was really glad I didn't have to make ducks or geese again!

 

[Disneyrsh]

Thanks for the replies-I think I'll be sticking to turkey this year as usual.

So, has anyone done free range turkey? Do they taste better than the ol' butterballs you get at the supermarket?

 

[piratesmate]

I've not seen "free range" turkeys around here. The stores only have "fresh" & "frozen", but can't say there's any difference with those...except that I don't need to do the defrosting. Cynical I know. We have a turkey processing plant right here & honestly, there's no real difference in taste between their fresh & frozen.

However, when my landlord gave us a turkey that they raised (kept in a "turkey house" not allowed to roam around outside) it would be running around on Tuesday morning, then slaughtered & allowed to "sit" and cooked Thursday morning. We were told they had to sit either overnight or 24 hours, I forget which.

There was definitely a difference in the taste and even the texture I think. The farm fresh birds had almost a "game-y" taste to them. I don't know how else to describe it. It was okay, but I honestly didn't care for it enough to buy a bird from them whenever we wanted turkey. (And I make a turkey at least 5 times in the colder months because they're so cheap.) I tend to put a bunch of spices on the bird before cooking & really like it that way. If I put enough on it, no one could tell the difference by taste...although there was still the texture thing. The best I can say is that it's moister...I don't want to say rubbery because that sounds gross & it isn't...it's just not as dry.

Sorry I can't explain it any better than that.

 

[Disneyrsh]

Ew! Now I'm thinkin' ham!

 

[piratesmate]

Sorry - didn't want to turn you off to it!

Well, you could always do what I do...I got tired of spending the day in the kitchen while everyone else was in the LR playing. I did a ham once & that was better than the turkey. For the past several years we do a make ahead buffet/grazing kind of day.

We start out with coffee, AKL Frunch, stollen, an overnight breakfast casserole, WL Strawberry Banana Bread, fresh pineapple, clementines & sometimes the potatoes from Cinderella's breakfast. What can stay out does & I also put out Chex Mix and cookies. About lunchtime, I put out veggies & dip, cheese & crackers, crab rangoon, shrimp & ring bologna.

To be honest, this makes for a very full day with very little work. It seems fancy enough to everyone to feel like a holiday meal & I don't need to spend my entire day in the kitchen.

 

[ddavis860]

Ew! Now I'm thinkin' ham!

I had to laugh at that...

My DH is a hunter, and we eat the Canadian Goose and duck that he brings home...I LOVE IT!!!
Honestly, it is really good if you prepare it right. Just FYI, put in a covered roasting pan, fill the cavity with rough cut orange, apple, and onion, and I spray the skin with Pam. Then it's in a HOT oven (like 450), for 1/2 hr. Then I check...maybe back in for a little while, maybe not. It comes out not gamey, and very tender. I don't eat the skin. It is all dark meat. We do the goose at Christmas (if DH has any luck at the field), along with a ham...yummy...I have never had farm raised goose though, so not sure about them.

As for the farm fresh turkey...worst one I ever had. Told DH to never get that again...Was not the right flavor for a turkey. I stuffed it like a regular store bought bird, and that stuffin went in the trash. DH ate the turkey, but not me...

 

[FantasticDisFamily]

I've done goose for Christmas and fed 6 without a problem. Of course, we love game to begin with and Christmas dinner always has so much else with it that it is a lot of a little if you know what I mean - not a ton of any one thing!

Meat does tend to be darker. The results can be greasy if you don't do it on a rack with a good inch underneath for it to drip into. I have done goose in my Nesco roaster also and doing it a relatively low temp with the convection fan works well. As for seasonings I remember using some oranges squeezed over the top and then just tossing the squeezed out oranges into the cavity. A little sage, salt and pepper. I never put stuffing in any sort of bird that we intend to eat anyway. Just apples or oranges or celery or a combination of those for a bit of flavor and to keep the cavity from collapsing.

Deb

 

[Disneyrsh]

Huh, I'

 

[piratesmate]

Yes, AKL Frunch is from the Animal Kingdom Lodge. It's the great beverage they serve with breakfast there. Truly a favorite around here!

FRUNCH
from Boma, AKL
Yield: 12 servings (1 gallon)

1 8-oz can Lemon Juice, frozen and canned
1 8-oz can Pineapple Juice, frozen and canned
1 8-oz can Orange Juice, frozen concentrate and canned
12 oz Mango Juice
6 ounces Grenadine

This recipe is easier for home use when frozen juice is used.

Follow the package instructions on the frozen juice containers. Mix in a large bowl. Add the mango juice and grenadine. Mix well and server over ice in a tall glass.

That's the recipe as sent to me by AKL. However, I generally buy fresh OJ & canned pineapple juice instead of using the frozen. The mango I can only get in a bottle on the grocery shelves. I suspect they mean lemonade - at least I've never seen lemon juice frozen in a can, but I use the Minute Maid frozen lemon juice. It comes in a plastic bottle.

I generally have enough for a second, slightly smaller pitcher by buying the non-frozen stuff...which is a very good thing!

Now I have a question - can you make the spinach dip ahead? Once it's made, how long does it keep? And can you post the recipe please? That's something I love, but have never actually made. It might be nice to add that to our menu this year instead of just using a jar of Marie's Creamy Italian Garlic or T. Marzetti's SouthWestern Ranch.

 

[bclydia]

LOVE the muppets Christmas Carol!!!!!
It just isn't Christmas without the muppets. Do you have the Muppets Christmas CD with John Denver? The twelve days of Christmas rocks!!! Go Miss Piggy! Ba dum dum dum!!
Lydia
PS, Okay, so I know nothing about cooking a goose -mine or anyone else's but just had to share my muppet Christmas joy!

 

[Disneyrsh]

The spinach dip can definitely be made ahead,