Roast Goose

The Book of Household Management · Beeton, Mrs. (Isabella Mary) · 1861

Source: The Book of Household Management
Yield: 8.0 – 9.0 persons
Status: success · extracted 13 days ago
Not a recipe: No

Ingredients (11)

Stuffing

4 large onions ↝ Onions, raw [Vegetables and Vegetable Products]
10 sage-leaves ↝ Fireweed, leaves, raw [Vegetables and Vegetable Products]
1/4 lb. of bread crumbs ↝ Bread, crumbs, dry, grated, seasoned [Baked Products]
1-1/2 oz. of butter ↝ Butter, stick, unsalted [Dairy and Egg Products]
salt and pepper to taste ↝ Salt, table, iodized [Spices and Herbs]
salt and pepper to taste ↝ Spices, pepper, black [Spices and Herbs]
1 egg ↝ Eggs, Grade A, Large, egg whole [Dairy and Egg Products]

Optional sauce

A teaspoonful of made mustard ↝ Mustard spinach, (tendergreen), raw [Vegetables and Vegetable Products]
a saltspoonful of salt ↝ Salt, table, iodized [Spices and Herbs]
a few grains of cayenne ↝ Peppers, raw, NFS [Other vegetables and combinations]
mixed with a glass of port wine

Instructions (19)

Choosing and Trussing

Select a goose with a clean white skin, plump breast, and yellow feet: if these latter are red, the bird is old.
Should the weather permit, let it hang for a few days: by so doing, the flavour will be very much improved.
Pluck, singe, draw, and carefully wash and wipe the goose.
cut off the neck close to the back, leaving the skin long enough to turn over.
cut off the feet at the first joint, and separate the pinions at the first joint.
Beat the breast-bone flat with a rolling-pin.
put a skewer through the under part of each wing, and having drawn up the legs closely, put a skewer into the middle of each, and pass the same quite through the body.
Insert another skewer into the small of the leg, bring it close down to the side bone, run it through, and do the same to the other side.
Now cut off the end of the vent, and make a hole in the skin sufficiently large for the passage of the rump, in order to keep in the seasoning.

Mode

Make a sage-and-onion stuffing of the above ingredients, by recipe No. 504.
put it into the body of the goose, and secure it firmly at both ends, by passing the rump through the hole made in the skin, and the other end by tying the skin of the neck to the back; by this means the seasoning will not escape.
Put it down to a brisk fire, keep it well basted, and roast from 1-1/2 to 2 hours, according to the size.
Remove the skewers, and serve with a tureen of good gravy, and one of well-made apple-sauce.
Should a very highly-flavoured seasoning be preferred, the onions should not be parboiled, but minced raw: of the two methods, the mild seasoning is far superior.
A ragoût, or pie, should be made of the giblets, or they may be stewed down to make gravy.
Be careful to serve the goose before the breast falls, or its appearance will be spoiled by coming flattened to table.
As this is rather a troublesome joint to carve, a large quantity of gravy should not be poured round the goose, but sent in a tureen.

Optional Sauce Preparation

Make a slit in the apron of the goose.
Pour in a teaspoonful of made mustard, a saltspoonful of salt, a few grains of cayenne, mixed with a glass of port wine.

Original Text

ROAST GOOSE.

968. INGREDIENTS.—Goose, 4 large onions, 10 sage-leaves, 1/4 lb. of bread crumbs, 1-1/2 oz. of butter, salt and pepper to taste, 1 egg.

Choosing and Trussing.—Select a goose with a clean white skin, plump breast, and yellow feet: if these latter are red, the bird is old. Should the weather permit, let it hang for a few days: by so doing, the flavour will be very much improved. Pluck, singe, draw, and carefully wash and wipe the goose; cut off the neck close to the back, leaving the skin long enough to turn over; cut off the feet at the first joint, and separate the pinions at the first joint. Beat the breast-bone flat with a rolling-pin, put a skewer through the under part of each wing, and having drawn up the legs closely, put a skewer into the middle of each, and pass the same quite through the body. Insert another skewer into the small of the leg, bring it close down to the side bone, run it through, and do the same to the other side. Now cut off the end of the vent, and make a hole in the skin sufficiently large for the passage of the rump, in order to keep in the seasoning.

[Illustration: ROAST GOOSE.]

Mode.—Make a sage-and-onion stuffing of the above ingredients, by recipe No. 504; put it into the body of the goose, and secure it firmly at both ends, by passing the rump through the hole made in the skin, and the other end by tying the skin of the neck to the back; by this means the seasoning will not escape. Put it down to a brisk fire, keep it well basted, and roast from 1-1/2 to 2 hours, according to the size. Remove the skewers, and serve with a tureen of good gravy, and one of well-made apple-sauce. Should a very highly-flavoured seasoning be preferred, the onions should not be parboiled, but minced raw: of the two methods, the mild seasoning is far superior. A ragoût, or pie, should be made of the giblets, or they may be stewed down to make gravy. Be careful to serve the goose before the breast falls, or its appearance will be spoiled by coming flattened to table. As this is rather a troublesome joint to carve, a large quantity of gravy should not be poured round the goose, but sent in a tureen.

Time.—A large goose, 1-3/4 hour; a moderate-sized one, 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hour.

Seasonable from September to March; but in perfection from Michaelmas to Christmas.

Average cost, 5s. 6d. each. Sufficient for 8 or 9 persons.

Note.—A teaspoonful of made mustard, a saltspoonful of salt, a few grains of cayenne, mixed with a glass of port wine, are sometimes poured into the goose by a slit made in the apron. This sauce is, by many persons, considered an improvement.

[Illustration: EMDEN GOOSE.]

THE GOOSE.—This bird is pretty generally distributed over the face of the globe, being met with in North America, Lapland, Iceland, Arabia, and Persia. Its varieties are numerous; but in England there is only one species, which is supposed to be a native breed. The best geese are found on the borders of Suffolk, and in Norfolk and Berkshire; but the largest flocks are reared in the fens of Lincolnshire and Cambridge. They thrive best where they have an easy access to water, and large herds of them are sent every year to London, to be fattened by the metropolitan poulterers. "A Michaelmas goose," says Dr. Kitchener, "is as famous in the mouths of the million as the minced-pie at Christmas; yet for those who eat with delicacy, it is, at that time, too full-grown. The true period when the goose is in the highest perfection is when it has just acquired its full growth, and not begun to harden; if the March goose is insipid, the Michaelmas goose is rank. The fine time is between both; from the second week in June to the first in September." It is said that the Michaelmas goose is indebted to Queen Elizabeth for its origin on the table at that season. Her majesty happened to dine on one at the table of an English baronet, when she received the news of the discomfiture of the Spanish Armada. In commemoration of this event, she commanded the goose to make its appearance at table on every Michaelmas. We here give an engraving of the Emden goose.

Notes

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