St Martin comes a calling

The tale of St Martin of Tours is a bit long winded so have a look on Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_of_Tours

But as this weekend was when my daughter and her partner Martin were visiting we decided on the Goose.

The starter was Dates stuffed with Fois gras, sprinkled with Tuna Bottarga, served on a Romana salad leaf with blutampfer, drizzled with a few drops of Stierische  pumpkin seed oil and a Modena Basalmico.

Followed by the Goose Consommé with Goose Liver Spätzle

The main was:

A Martins Goose with bread dumplings, cauliflower and Brussel Sprouts

1 goose about 3.5-4kg (if you are getting it from a producer or a good butcher ask for the innards) The goose fat removed from around its rear entrance and prick under the legs and wings

Salt

Pepper

Thyme

600ltr of goose stock (I used some of the consommé)

1 leek, white and light green only, sliced

1 largish piece of celeriac (or a few stalks of celery) diced

2 carrots roughly sliced

1 onion roughly chopped

2 cloves of garlic crushed

1 tsp of black pepper

1 tsp of mace

1 tsp of all spice berries (pimento)

5 or 6 cloves

Wash the goose inside and out, (if it is wild one remove any shot)

Dry and salt/pepper.

I had made a filling the day before this consisted of:

150g of stale sour dough bread grated

2 carrots diced small 

White of a leek sliced fine

¼ of a celeriac globe, skinned, sliced and diced

¼ of a small butternut squash cut into small dice

1 turnip (the yellow kind) place in the microwave and cook at full power for 30 minutes, I had heard about this method, was it any better than boiling it, probably not but it was less watery.

100g of minced pork

Pinch of ginger

Pinch of coriander powder

Grating of nutmeg

1 onion

1 clove of garlic

400 ml of goose stock (consommé)

1 tsp of chopped thyme

1 tsp of chopped rosemary

1 tsp of chopped parsley

Salt and pepper

Sauté the vegetables in a little goose fat until soft, add the mince and brown all together, add, herbs, spices and the stock and then the bread, finally add about 100g of the turnip purée, stir well and allow to cook until all of the liquid is absorbed (cover and allow to infuse overnight).

Next day Stuff your goose with the mixture and stitch up the opening with cocktail sticks (wood not plastic I use BBQ skewers cut in half) and kitchen string.

Rub it all over with plenty of salt and pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 200°C fan assisted

Place this on the top of the diced veg, breast down and pour in 400ml of goose stock (I had made 3 ltrs the day before 1 ltr for the consommé, 1 ltr for the spätzle and 1 ltr for the bird, this was extended with 2 ltrs of chicken stock- you can never have too much stock) LoL  

Cover either with a lid if you have a German Bräter, which I have not or with aluminium foil which I have in great quantities.

Put into the middle of the oven and roast for 1 hr after this turn onto the back add another 200ml of goose stock cover once again for 1.5 hrs, remove the foil and baste and turn regularly for a further 30 minutes, this will give you a wonderful brown goose with a crispy skin.

Remove from the roasting pan, place on a wire rack allow to rest covered until required (ours rested from the starter through the soup course), cut the goose legs and wings off and section, cut off the breasts and slice,  arrange on a warm serving plate, take out the stuffing and also place on the serving plate.

While the goose was resting, I steamed the cauliflower, the Sprouts and boiled the dumplings, It was also time to make sauce (it used to be gravy, but now-a-days it is sauce).

Drain all of the vegetables etc. through a sieve into a clean pan, squeeze out all of the juices, allow settling and degreasing the fat from the surface (I got about 700 ml).

Now add about 50 g of beurre manié (50 % butter, 50% flour) in walnut size pieces, whisking over a low heat not adding the next until the last is fully incorporated, I finished off with a desert spoonful of double cream. Filter into a sauce boat.

So that was Martin’ Gans cooked, also Janice’s, Linda’s, Kalle’s and mine. We drank a very nice Portuguese Red wine with it (an Emmerlinda) and finished off the meal with an Autumn Trifle