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Christmas Dinner

(serves 4)

Ingredients

1 x 10lb Goose
(Ask the butcher to prepare it by removing the legs, wings and giblets, and excess carcass to leave just the crown). Keep the wings, giblets and excess carcass for the gravy, and the legs for roasting.
6 large floury potatoes (Maris Piper)
600g sprouts
170g diced pancetta
100g chopped roasted chestnuts
6 large carrots
4 large parsnips
1 tbsp runny honey

Apple sauce:

3 large bramleys – peeled, de-cored, quartered and sliced
25g caster sugar
4 tbsp water
Juice of ½ a lemon
½ a cinnamon stick

Stuffing:

300g sausage meat
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 dsp chopped fresh sage
Zest of 1 lemon
75g chopped roast chestnuts
1 apple, grated
Salt and pepper
1 small egg

Gravy:

Goose wings, giblets and excess carcass
2 pints of chicken stock
1 onion
1 leek
1 stick celery
2 clove garlic
1 carrot
1 dsp tomato puree

Method:

Advance prep and cooing

Stuffing:

Melt a knob of butter in a frying pan and cook the onions for a few minutes until softened. Then add the lemon zest and sage. Set aside and allow to cool before mixing with the rest of the stuffing ingredients. Butter 2 sheets of silver foil and spoon the mixture along the middle of each sheet. Roll into a long sausage shape and then twist the ends to tighten and secure. Bake in a 180C pre-heated oven for about 25 m minutes. Allow to cool, refrigerate.

Apple sauce:

Cook all the ingredients gently in a pan for 10-15 minutes with the lid on. Remove the cinnamon stick, allow to cool and refrigerate.

Legs and Gravy:

Roast goose trimmings including the legs for 2 ½ hours at 140C. Allow the legs to cool, and refrigerate.

To make the gravy, fry the vegetable ingredients until lightly browned, add the tomato puree and cook for a further couple of minutes. Add to the chicken stock along with the roasted wings, giblets and excess carcass. Bring to the boil, skim off any excess fat and simmer for two hours. Strain through a fine sieve or muslin cloth and then boil to reduce by half, add a slug of good British ale. Cool and refrigerate.

Sprouts:

Cook the sprouts in plenty of boiling, salted water until tender. Drain and refresh under cold running water until cool. Drain and refrigerate. Fry the pancetta until golden brown, drain off excess fat, cool and refrigerate.

Carrots and parsnips

Cut the parsnips and carrots lengthwise into quarters, place in a single layer in a roasting tray; season with salt and pepper, drizzle over olive oil and roast in a 180C pre-heated oven for about 35 minutes. Fifteen minutes before the end of cooking time, add the honey; stir around the veg to coat, and then return to the oven. Remove, set aside to cool, and then refrigerate.

Potatoes:

Peel and quarter the potatoes. Put in a pan and cover with cold water, add plenty of salt and bring to the boil. Simmer for 1-15 minutes until the edges of the potatoes turn soft. Drain well and whiz the potatoes around in the pan to roughen up the edges. Set aside to cool and refrigerate.

To cook and serve the whole meal:

Prick the goose crown all over with a fork to help render the fat. Rub in salt, pepper and olive oil. Place ina large roasting tin on a trivet of onion wedges. Arrange the potatoes around the edge and roast in a 220C pre-heated oven for 50 minutes. Turn the oven down to 180C. Remove from the oven, remove the roast potatoes and set aside. Cover the goose loosely with foil and allow to rest for 25 minutes in a warm place. While the goose is resting, re-heat the carrots, parsnips and stuffing in the oven. Put the potatoes back in the oven for the last ten minutes. Re-heat the apple sauce in a saucepan, and the gravy (thicken with granules if you like a thicker gravy). Melt 50g of butter in a saucepan and a add 25ml of water. Add the sprouts and re-heat by tossing them in the butter and water emulsion. When hot, drain off any excess liquid and garnish with the pancetta and chopped chestnuts. Arrange the whole lot, with the goose in the middle on a large serving platter and serve.