Rick Stein’s roast goose with sage and onion stuffing and apple sauce recipe

“I have probably enthused about goose elsewhere but for me, the great benefit is the roasted skin and delicious fat,” says TV chef Rick Stein.

“I often think that goose is more like roast beef than poultry. The excellent goose for this photograph was supplied by Goodman’s Geese.”

Roast goose with sage and onion stuffing and apple sauce

Ingredients
(Serves 8)

1 x 4.5–5kg oven-ready goose
Salt and black pepper
Sage and onion stuffing
3 large onions, finely chopped
75g goose fat
200g fresh white breadcrumbs
200g vacuum-packed chestnuts, chopped
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
4tbsp chopped fresh sage
3tbsp chopped parsley
1 large egg, beaten
Oil, for greasing
Salt and black pepper
Stock/gravy
4 rashers of streaky bacon, chopped
Goose giblets
1 small onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
2 celery sticks, chopped
2 bay leaves
6 black peppercorns
2 heaped tbsp plain flour
Apple sauce
4 Cox’s apples, peeled, cored and sliced

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C/Fan 200°C. Remove any clumps of fat from the inside of the goose cavity, put them into a pan and leave over a very low heat until melted. Pass the fat through a fine sieve into a bowl. Season the goose inside and out with salt and place it on a rack set over a large roasting tin. Roast for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and lower the temperature to 180°C/Fan 160°C.

2. Lift the goose on to a board with 2 wooden spoons (you don’t want to pierce the skin), pour off the excess fat from the roasting tin and then replace the goose on the rack. Keep the fat for future roast potatoes.

3. Put the goose back in the oven and roast for a further 1–1½ hours, or until the juices run clear when the thickest part of the thigh is pierced with a skewer and the temperature of the meat when probed in the thickest part of the thigh reaches 66°C for a minute.

4. To make the giblet stock for the gravy, fry the bacon, giblets and vegetables in a little goose fat until golden brown. Pour off the excess fat, add 1.2 litres of water, the bay leaves and peppercorns and simmer for 1 hour. Strain through a sieve and set aside.

5. For the stuffing, fry the onions in about 75g of the goose fat until soft and very lightly browned. Put the breadcrumbs, chestnuts, lemon zest, sage and parsley in a bowl, add the onions and season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the beaten egg to bind the mixture together. Spoon the stuffing into a well-greased terrine dish or loaf tin, cover with a lid or foil and set aside to cook later.

6. For the apple sauce, put the prepared apples into a pan with 100ml of water and simmer for 12–15 minutes, stirring now and then, until soft. Season the sauce with a pinch of salt and keep it warm.

7. When the goose is cooked, lift it on to a board, cover it with foil and leave it to rest for at least 20 minutes. Put the stuffing in the oven and cook for 25–30 minutes.

8. Pour off most of the fat from the roasting tin, leaving about a tablespoon. Set the tin on the hob, stir in the flour and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the giblet stock and deglaze the tin by rubbing the base with a wooden spoon. Simmer for about 10 minutes, then taste to check the seasoning. Pass the gravy through a sieve into a warm gravy boat.

9. Serve the goose with the stuffing, apple sauce and gravy, plus roast potatoes and vegetables.

Tip: Not being a very neat carver, I like to carve in the kitchen and take the slices of goose to the table on a large, warm plate. I cut off the legs and cut each one in half, then carve the breast meat away from each side into long, thin slices.

Rick Stein’s Christmas – Recipes, Memories & Stories for the Festive Season i(£28, BBC Books) Photography by James Murphy. Available now.