Harts Kitchen
Learn by Harts
Cook Your Goose
Beer expert Melissa Cole shows us how to use
delicious dark ales to cook a Christmas feast
J
ust before you panic
and think ‘god, a
goose, that’s huge
and expensive!’ let
me just say you can
use a couple of ducks
instead, if you want,
as that’s actually how this
dish started life; just use the
same amount of ingredients,
distributed equally between
the two birds, or reduce the
ingredients by half for just
one.
And this isn’t just for
Christmas; it makes for a
great entertaining dish too
because it’s basically make
ahead and re-heat, freeing
you up to spend more time
with friends and family.
You can prepare the bird
up to three days in advance.
And if you want to serve
this with roast potatoes
(why wouldn’t you?) you
will get far crispier ones by
par-boiling them the day
before and refrigerating
them, making this probably
– almost certainly – the most
hassle-free feast you’ll ever
make.
You will need a very deep,
very large roasting tray
(pan) for this and some
turkey foil.
About Melissa Cole
One of the UK’s leading
beer and food experts,
Melissa Cole is an
award-winning writer.
From judging beers
to brewing with some
of the world’s best
what she doesn’t know
about beer isn’t worth
knowing.
Extracted from
The Beer Kitchen
by Melissa Cole
(Hardie Grant, £20)
Ale-roast Goose
Serves 6–8
Ingredients
500 ml (17 fl oz/2 cups) smoked beer* (see box right)
500 ml (17 fl oz/2 cups) strong dark Belgian ale+ (see
box right for some suggestions)
500 ml (17 fl oz/2 cups) milk stout (see ‘Cook’ beers to
the right)
2 tablespoons soft brown sugar
4.5–5.5 kg (10–11 lb) whole goose
2 long carrots
2 large celery sticks
1 onion, quartered
1 garlic bulb, broken into cloves but not skinned
8 black peppercorns
A good bouquet garni: bay leaves and your woody
herbs of choice, such as sage, thyme, rosemary,
oregano or marjoram
2 litres (70 fl oz/8 cups) good-quality chicken stock
(if needed)
Fine sea salt
30 ml (1 fl oz) Flanders red
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 120°C (250°F/Gas 1/2)
and boil the kettle full of water.
2. Warm the beers in a saucepan and add the sugar.
3. Pierce the goose skin all over, paying special attention to the fat
pockets around the legs. Put the goose on a trivet, put it in the sink and
pour the kettle of hot water over it.
4. Make a square ‘nest’ for the goose with the carrots and celery in
a large roasting tin (pan), then scatter the onions, garlic, pepper and
bouquet garni in the middle and place the goose on top, breast-side up.
5. Pour half the beer/sugar mixture over it and sprinkle lightly with fine
salt, then turn breast-side down and repeat.
6. Add enough stock to the tin so the breast and most of the legs are
covered (or as high as you dare, remembering you have to take it out
when it’s hot!) and cook for 4–6 hours.
7. When the leg bone starts to come away easily, it’s done. Take out of
the oven and allow to cool for at least an hour, uncovered in the pan.
8. Lift the goose out very carefully, making sure you empty the cavity of
juices into the tin, but don’t throw the juices away!
9. Put the goose on a plate to cool. Put any juices from resting back in
the tin, and put the goose in the refrigerator uncovered (if putting in a
cold place like a garage, shed or larder instead, cover with muslin or
something breathable).
10. Warm the roasting tin on the hob and scrape the bits off the bottom,
then pass the liquid through a fine sieve into a tall and thin receptacle
22
www.hartsofstur.com