Cookin yer Goose!

I know its pretty late for a Christmas post... but for the past couple weeks we had company in.. Dave's family to be exact... visiting from the UK. So needless to say the last thing on my mind was jumping online and blogging about all the face stuffing Ive been doing! And there was a LOT! Unfortunately... I didnt do much photographing... didnt want to freak out the future in-laws too much by my strange habits of taking shots of everything I eat... I know they thought it was strange enough that I seem to enjoy being in the kitchen a little too much.

But I did want to share that I decided to go out on a limb and cook a goose for Christmas! Even though Dave nor I had ever had goose, at least that we could remember!

The goose was fantastic!! I definitely think it will become a Christmas tradition in our home... a welcome break from turkey and ham. And a major bonus was that I managed to trim loads of fat off the goose before I cooked it... now I have a nice stash of goose fat in the freezer to use at my leisure... mmm...


Ahhh... above is Dave's plate.
At 12 is the brussels sprouts Dave's mom made with her uber-top-secret recipe... good gawd they were good... like butter in the center...mmmm.
3 o clock is honey glazed carrots... using the same recipe I used for Thanksgiving that went over very well with my dad and sister. This is the recipe I use... I omit the parsnips.
At 7 and hugging the left of the plate is some goose breast. I think its flavor falls somewhere between duck and turkey... VERY yummy. I'm not sure why its not more popular. This was the recipe I used for the goose... I also made the caramelized apples... I think those are hiding between 1 & 2 o-clock.
Smack in the middle is mashed taters.. also courtesy of Dave's mom. I made gravy following the recipe below... probably the best gravy recipe I have ever found.. and finally gives me an excuse to use up ALL of the giblets.. neck included!

The Most Awesomest Gravy EVAR

Reserved neck, heart and gizzard
6 cups water
3 1/2 cups canned low-salt chicken broth
2 carrots, coarsely chopped
1 onion, halved
1 large celery stalk, chopped
1 small bay leaf

5 tablespoons butter
5 tablespoons all purpose flour


Place reserved neck, heart and gizzard into large saucepan. Add 6 cups water, 3 1/2 cups chicken broth, carrots, onion, celery and bay leaf. Simmer over medium heat until stock is reduced to 3 cups, about 2 hours. Strain stock into bowl; reserve neck and giblets. Pull meat off neck. Chop neck meat and giblets.

Melt 5 tablespoons butter (or some of that reserved fat!! mmmm!!) in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add 5 tablespoons all purpose flour and whisk 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in stock and up to 1 cup reserved pan juices (juices are salty, so add according to taste). Simmer gravy until thickened to desired consistency, whisking occasionally, about 5 minutes. Add chopped turkey neck meat and giblets; season to taste with pepper.