Cooking with Game

This is very similar to pulled meat. You could add Bar-B-Que sauce if you wish. It has a really nice flavor as is though (yes, I know it’s goose, but it really does taste good!) I used the meat one night for wraps. The next night I served over rice. You could also serve on sandwich buns.

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Ingredients:

Goose Parts – cleaned, but not skinned or boned*

1 large onion, chopped

5 – 6 (or more) cloves of garlic, chopped if large

1 package Lipton’s Onion Soup Mix

Meat tenderizer

Onion Powder (optional)

Garlic Powder (optional)

Directions:

Liberally spray a slow cooker (crock pot) with Pam.

Sprinkle the goose parts with tenderizer (like you would sprinkle on salt, tenderizer can be too salty if you over use) and liberally with both powders on each side.

If using the gizzards use a spiked tenderizing tool, or sharp tined fork, to perforate the gizzard a number of times. Turn it over and poke some more. It may be a little hard to do, but it makes all the difference, so persevere.

Put the goose in the slow cooker. Next dump the onions and garlic on the goose. Top with the soup mix. Use your fingers to mix the onions, garlic and soup a bit. You could do this in a separate bowl but then you have to wash another dish.

Cook for 6 hours on high. Stir the meat a couple of times if you can. If your out all day, it will still be fine.

Turn the cooker to warm and let the meat cool down enough for you to pull out the bones and remove the skin, which should be easy. I use a slotted spoon to pull meat out and put onto a plate to remove skin and bones.

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Note: Do not add any water or liquid. You won’t need it and it can actually toughen the meat.

*I used the breasts for another dish so all I had was the legs with thighs, wings, heart and gizzards (cleaned well). Skin on. It will come off after cooking.

GOOSE BREAST ROULADE

Prep time: 25 – 30 minutes Cook time: 25 minutes Serves 4

This is a very tasty and attractive dish. The goose turns out surprisingly tender, and very flavorful. I must say that it is a bit of a pain though. The recipe I followed is from the Ducks Unlimited Magazine. I tried to find it on-line, but could not.

I highly recommend making the sauce. It’s easy and really adds a lot. I also suggest serving with some crusty bread to sop up any left over sauce.

Ingredients:

2 cups thinly sliced mushrooms

Olive oil

4 skinless goose breast fillets

(I had 2 large ones so I cut in half thickness to make 4 pieces)

Salt & Pepper

2 cups spinach leaves (packed), stems removed

4 1-inch-wide strips of red bell pepper

4 1 1/2-by-4 inch pieces of white cheese like jack or gouda

1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs *

4 pieces of bacon pounded out to flatten and thin **

2/3 cup dry red wine

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

4 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into chunks

Directions:

In the morning or the night before, place each breast in a zip lock bag and pound with a mallet until the thickness of a pencil. Dissolve 1/4 cup course salt, 1/8 cup sugar, in water in a large glass bowl. Place the pounded breasts in the bowl and add enough water to cover. Cover the bowl with a lid or plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 4 hours up to overnight. This is a simple brining method.

1 hour before preparing, remove the breasts from the brine, rinse and pat dry.

In an oven proof medium size skillet, heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil over medium heat and lightly brown the mushrooms. Transfer the mushrooms to a plate lined with paper towels to drain and cool.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Rub breasts with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Lay out flat on a work surface. Place an even layer of spinach leaves across the meat. Add 1 strip of bell pepper and 1/4 of the cooled mushrooms over the pepper. Lay the cheese over the mushrooms and sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the bread crumbs * (If not seasoned, add 1 tablespoon italian seasoning and 1 teaspoon grated parmesan cheese) over the cheese. Snugly roll up like a burrito. Stretch and wrap the bacon snugly around the breasts. **(or use 12 thin slices prosciutto overlapped in place of bacon)

Reheat the skillet over medium-high heat and brown the bacon on all sides of the roll for about 2 minutes on each side (about 8 minutes total). Make sure the seam side of the roll is down, add half of the wine to the pan and cook 2 more minutes. Place the pan on the middle rack of the preheated oven and cook until the bacon is lightly browned, about 7 to 8 minutes. If it still needs additional browning turn on the broiler for 4 minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven WITH A MITT – LEAVE MITT ON HANDLE.

Transfer the roulades to a cutting surface to rest for a few minutes. Place the pan on a medium-high burner, add remaining wine and balsamic vinegar. Stir to loosen bits and reduce liquid to 2 to 3 tablespoons. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in butter until melted.

Slice each roulade and spoon the sauce over.

NOTE:  If you have left over sauce warm it up slowly. If you heat it in the microwave or too fast it will separate and you won’t be able to use it.

Pressure Cook Your Goose

Goose meat can be prettytough and I personally don’t care for it’s taste.

Pressure Cooking can help tenderize and flavor it. It is also faster.

The Pressure Cooker I have is 12 PSI. If the one you have is a 15 PSI you will need to shorten the cooking time.

Because my hunter brought me home a big fat goose this time, I had to cut it up to fit it in the pressure cooker. I only used the breasts and legs. I even cut the breasts in half so they would cook better. The wings, neck and gizzards I cook separately. My hubby loves the parts this way as I cook them for hours until the meat falls from the bones. I will add the recipe for that soon.

For the liquid I used the same ingredients that I used for the Upside-Down Roast Goose Recipe since it flavors the meat so well. I’m including it here again for convenience:

Ingredients:

* 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine

* 1 cup carrots, shredded

* 1 cup celery, diced

* 1 cup onion, finely chopped

* 1 medium apple, cored, peeled and chopped

* 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

* 1 cup chicken stock

* 1/2 cup dry white wine

* 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (or 2 T dried)

* 1 1/2 Tablespoons dried rosemary

* 1 1/2 Tablespoons dried thyme

* 4 bay leaves

* 1 teaspoon salt

* 1 teaspoon cracked pepper

* 1 cut up wild goose, up to 10 pounds

Melt 2/3 of the stick of butter in the pressure cooker over medium heat.

Add the goose parts and brown lightly. You may have to do it in two batches.

Remove the parts to a plate.

Add the other 1/3 stick of butter to the cooker.

When hot add the carrots, celery, onions, apple, and garlic. Sauté for 10 minutes.

Then add the stock, wine, parsley, rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, salt, and pepper. Turn up the heat and bring to a boil for 1 minute.

Lower the heat to medium-low, simmer for 6 to 8 minutes.

Add the goose back in. Spoon some of the liquid over the meat.

Put the lid on the pressure cooker. Raise the heat to medium-high. When the steam issues steadily from the stem, add the pressure regulator (mine has to click down to be on properly).

Lower the heat to medium or medium-low depending on your heat source (mine is an electric glass top). Regulator should maintain a gentle hissing.

Start timing from placing the regulator. Cook for 1 hour.

Remove from heat, let sit for 5 – 10 minutes. Relieve pressure and remove top.

This can be served with any number of side dishes. Cous cous, rice or potatoes are good.

The goose is cooked upside-down with vegetables and herbs in a savory broth, and then turned upright during the end of cooking.

My hunter was only able to bring me home a 2 1/2 pound goose to try this recipe on, so that is what I used. That is the nature of hunting and fishing. You can’t be too picky about what you get, just happy he/she didn’t come home empty handed!

This recipe is okay. I am not a big fan of wild goose, but this does make the meat taste good, even though it remains fairly tough. If you are looking for a way to cook it to make it tender, this is not it. A larger bird would have been more rare than the smaller one I cooked, so the breast meat might have been a little more tender, but the back and legs certainly would not be.

I have included this here in case you’ve seen the same recipe elsewhere and were wondering how it might turn out.

Upside-Down Roast Goose Recipe

The goose is cooked upside-down with vegetables and herbs in a savory broth, and then turned upright during the end of cooking.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes
Yield: 4 to 6 servings

* 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
* 1 cup carrots, shredded
* 1 cup celery, diced
* 1 cup onion, finely chopped
* 1 medium apple, cored, peeled and chopped
* 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
* 1 cup veal (or low-salt chicken) stock
* 1/2 cup dry white wine
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
* 1 1/2 Tablespoons dried rosemary
* 1 1/2 Tablespoons dried thyme
* 4 bay leaves
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon cracked pepper
* 1 whole wild goose, about 7 to 10 pounds

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Melt the butter in a large sauce pan (or in a dutch oven) over medium-low heat. Add the carrots, celery, onions, apple, and garlic. Saute for 8 to 10 minutes. Add the stock, wine, parsley, rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, salt, and pepper. Turn up the heat and bring to a boil for 1 minute. Lower the heat to medium-low, simmer for 6 to 8 minutes.

Pour the vegetables and liquid into a large roasting pan fitted with a lid unless you used a dutch oven, in which case you can just add the bird now. Turn the bird breast-side down and nestle into the vegetables and liquid. Spoon some of the liquid and vegetables over the goose and add more water (or wine if you like) to submerse the bird half-way. Cover and roast about 1-1/4 hours. Turn the bird over, facing up, and cook another 15 minutes, uncovered or until a meat thermometer registers 160 degrees F when inserted next to the leg bone.

Remove and let the bird sit for about 10 minutes before carving. Spoon some of the juice and vegetables over each portion of sliced meat.

After eating what we wanted for our evening meal, I put the goose back in the pot and continued to simmer it over med-low heat for several more hours. This made it much more tender, though it does dry the meat out. There is enough vegetables and liquid to pour over the meat though to moisten it up.