My Goose Is Cooked...after some research

So I had a couple of goose breasts in my freezer since the end of the hunting season.  My colleague likes to hunt, but doesn't really know how to cook it up so he'd asked if I wanted some...

I called out "YES, OH YES, PICK ME!" and told him that I'd bring in lunch when I experimented.

He shared ducks with me and after smoking duck breasts (teal and mallards), which turned out beautifully, (I pulled it out of the smoker RARE), I thought I could handle goose.  He was happy being my guinea pig.  (Well, most of my people are okay with that).

On the internet, on a 'goose breast' search, you come up with a bunch of different links for recipes and field cleaning the goose (which was really straight up and interesting), but I was hunting out all the options before I jumped right in.  I liked the site that said to soak the breasts overnight in buttermilk to pull the game flavor out of them.  I searched out all sorts of different recipes and video links to watch the cooking techniques.

But nobody does as good a job of demonstrating a good trim of the gray skin (which is generally chewy and not the best flavor), as this guy I found on YouTube from Ontario.  He's not a professional, he's just a guy who wanted to share what he's done with others and for his friends - and I really appreciated watching the clip.  You can guess where he's from in like the first 5 seconds of the clip and he does a fantastic job of demonstrating from his kitchen. This is the same trimming you would do to venison or other game, I would imagine.

So here's the link...

I looked at a bunch of different sauce preps.  Throwing out the crock pot immediately, I went for the pan sear and sauce.  I like to saute things that could otherwise be overcooked and therefore ruined.  You need to watch when you pull the meat out of the pan and how long you put it back in for when you make the pan sauce, but it's worth the risk.  At least it was this time.

So I made a mix of this recipe and this one from Ducks Unlimited ...putting together this list of instructions as I sort of joined the two together.... after trimming the breasts out, as instructed by my Kingston mentor.



Goose Breasts in Tangy Orange pan sauce

Soak the goose breasts overnight in buttermilk.

Trim off the gray skin and pound them gently.  Place them in a dish, sprinkle them with sake and then lightly with powdered coriander and then a bit of seasoned salt.

After a couple hours in the dish, resting, prep a saute pan with 1 1/2 T of each butter and olive oil.  Saute the breasts until they are to your liking (I pulled them out of the pan when they were quite rare, which you test by pressing your finger against the mid-section... the level of give determines the amount they are done...  I tested and pulled them off at quite soft under the gently browned surface).  Place them on a plate to the side and tent them with tin foil.

In the pan, add a chopped clove of garlic and cook only for a couple minutes.  Add to the pan and whisk together:

1/3 c. Orange juice (1 T. cornstarch whisked in for thickening)
1 T. Orange zest
2 T. White Wine vinegar
2 T. Soy sauce
2 T. Honey
1/4 T. crushed caraway seed

After the sauce thickens a bit, add the breasts back into the pan and spoon sauce over them and flip them over in a moment or two. 

Serve over rice, with mashed potatoes, on risotto or buttered toast tips with a side of your favorite vegetable.  We enjoyed a White Bordeaux that had the perfect amount a sweet and tang to compliment the sauce, which was the same.  Chop up some parsley to garnish.

I made jasmin rice and red onion jam to accompany the goose and sauce.  My neighbor brought over a side of Farro, spinach, bacon and mushroom.  And oh boy - we almost fell off our chairs, this was so good together.

The Red Onion jam was a recipe that the Napa Valley Grille at the Mall of America was nice enough to provide for us.  The cutting of the onion was the most time-consuming and the outcome is unbelievable!

Red Onion Jam
3 red onions, saute until translucent
1 cup of red wine, deglaze and reduce by half
1 T. Sherry vinegar and 3/4 cup of brown sugar, simmer to the consistency of jam
salt and pepper to taste

Enjoy!