Baked Goose with Jerusalem Artichokes for Polish Independence Day

Yesterday was Independence Day in Poland. Some of you could even watch or read the news in the press, showing riots and numerous acts of vandalism in Warsaw. The Independence Day in Kraków was much calmer, but the whole day was spoiled because of what happened in Warsaw.

Anyway, I ordered an organic oat goose a couple of weeks ago. It arrived on Saturday and we had it yesterday for lunch. You can read more about the goose season in Poland in this post and this one.

Yesterday, I baked the whole bird. The inspiration came from the recipe of Wojciech Modest Amaro who indicates to bake it for 5 hours. The meat was very tasty, although slightly hard ( I believe it could be baked a bit longer at a low temperature). I served it with a Polish style stuffing consisting of buckwheat, dried plums, smoked dried mushrooms and apples. You may prepare the stuffing on the previous day, the taste will even be better. My family could also try Jerusalem artichokes baked in honey. Polish goose goes very well with shredded beats, which is an extremely popular side dish in my country. I also experimented yesterday a red cabbage purée with shallots. The purée was tasty, but its texture was not ideal as it was not smooth).

Polish Baked Goose

Serves 6

For the goose and stuffing:

1 young goose (around 5 kg)

150 g dried prunes, thinly sliced

Around 200 g buckwheat

50 g dried mushrooms, soaked in about 400 ml of water

2 medium onions, peeled and finely chopped

Fresh thyme leaves

1 goose liver, chopped

2 sour apples, peeled and cut into small cubes

1 garlic clove, chopped

Goose grease

Salt and pepper

1. Prepare the stuffing. Soak the mushrooms in water for a couple of hours, alternatively cook them for around 30 minutes until soft. In a sauce pan, heat some goose grease, add buckheat and roast it for 2 minutes. Add mushrooms with the mushroom broth, bring to a boil, cook under the cover for around 6-7 minutes or until water evaporates, leave under the cover.

2. In a hot frying pan, melt goose grease and fry the onions until gold. Add apples, prunes and cook until apples are nearly soft. Add goose liver, thyme, and fry for around 2 minutes, stirring. Finally, add buckwheat with mushrooms, salt and pepper. Taste and put aside.

3. Tight goose legs and wings. Rub the goose with salt and chopped garlic and refrigerate overnight. Rub off the garlic in the morning (so it does not burn). Heat the oven to 90°C. Stuff the bird and sew the skin to close the cavity. Place in a large pan. Bake for 5 hours at 90°C. Then remove the bird from the oven, wrap it in aluminum foil, place it vertically and let it rest for 30 minutes. Warm the oven to 220°C and bake the bird for another 30 minutes. Cut the goose into pieces and serve with Jerusalem artichokes, the stuffing, beets and cabbage purée.

Baked Jerusalem Artichokes

300 g Jerusalem artichokes (peeled, washed and cut along into halves)

2 table spoons buckwheat honey

Goose grease

In a bowl, mix goose grease with honey, add Jerusalem artichokes and bake for 20 minutes at 220°C or until soft (depending on their size, the baking time will differ), mixing occasionally. You can also fry them in a frying pan. Delicately sprinkle with a bit of salt.

Traditional Polish Shredded Beetroots

4 medium beetroots

Butter

Cream

Salt

Pepper

A bit of lemon juice

You can bake the beetroots the day before baking your goose. Bake your beets in the oven (180°C) for one hour or until soft. Let them cool down completely and peel them. Thinly shred or blend them (I prefer the first option). In a saucepan, melt some butter, add beets and warm them up. Sprinkle with lemon juice, add cream, salt and pepper to taste. Heat well stirring constantly (it may easily burn).

Red cabbage purée

1/2 red cabbage, finely shredded

2 shallots, peeled and chopped

2-3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons brown sugar

Salt

Heavy cream

Butter

Goose grease

In a large sauce pan, heat goose grease, add cabbage and simmer until nearly soft. In the meantime, in a small saucepan, add about 150 ml of water, the red vinegar and the sugar, bring to a boil, add shallots and reduce the heat down to the minimum. Cook until the liquid evaporates completely. Mix shallots with cabbage, blend them thoroughly until quite smooth (although its texture will not be smooth), add cream and a bit of butter, and salt to taste. Heat well.