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.
