Hot dishes have always occupied a fundamental place both at an ordinary dinner and at a festive table. During a feast, meat dishes are eaten best and are also remembered by guests. Many housewives choose traditional recipes: fry chicken, bake pork, beef or fish. But sometimes you really want to please your family and dear guests with something extraordinary and tasty. In this case, you can make a goose baked in the oven.
In our family, we definitely cook this bird for the Christmas or New Year’s table. We often experiment with fillings: adding prunes, apples or oranges. In any case, such dishes look presentable, and their taste surprises even real gourmets. But you need to remember that there is not as much meat in goose as it seems at first glance. Therefore, for a large company you need to buy a carcass of at least 4 kg, or cook several birds at once.
In this article I will tell you how to choose and properly bake a whole bird so that the meat turns out soft and juicy. I will also show you interesting options for fillings to please yourself and your loved ones with a delicious combination.
How to choose a goose for cooking in the oven
Before you start baking your Christmas goose, let's take a look at how to choose the right one. How well you choose the carcass will determine how well you will be able to prepare a meat dish for Christmas.
If you choose a good goose, then the invited guests will be well-fed, satisfied and joyful, which means that the Christmas holidays will be a success.
Of course, the best option would be to immediately buy a freshly slaughtered bird carcass that has not been frozen. If possible, negotiate with the seller to buy a goose slaughtered shortly before the holidays.
If you bought a frozen bird carcass in a store, you need to put it in the refrigerator in advance so that it gradually defrosts. Please note that the defrosting process may take a day. Before cooking, be sure to check the internal condition of the bird; it must be completely defrosted. This is necessary to ensure that the meat cooks evenly.
It is more desirable to buy a gander than a goose. The fact is that it is not profitable to feed a male for a long time and therefore most likely you will come across a young goose whose meat will be very tender and tasty. Typically, males are thicker than females and weigh more.
Before cooking, the carcass must be processed, the wen cut out, the remaining feathers removed and singed.
Almost every recipe calls for marinating the carcass in a liquid marinade or rubbing the bird with an aromatic mixture of various seasonings, herbs and spices. Before you cook the bird in the oven, it needs to be processed and marinated for a day. Then the cooked meat will be soft, tender, aromatic and evenly salted.
For baking, the marinated bird carcass is simply placed on a baking sheet; additionally, it can be wrapped in foil or placed in a sleeve.
Goose in the oven to make the meat soft and juicy + marinade recipe
There are two basic marinades, one in the form of a regular aqueous saline solution, and the second, which is rubbing the carcass with various spices and herbs.
Salt marinade
- To prepare it, we need to take 1.5-2 tbsp. spoons of salt per 1 kilogram of poultry.
- For a goose weighing 3 kilograms we take 5 tbsp. spoons of salt, dissolve the salt in 10 liters of warm water (temperature approximately 60 degrees).
- Place the carcass in a water-salt solution and keep it in a cool place for 24 hours.
- Then we take out the bird, wipe it dry with napkins and rub it with your favorite spices to suit your taste.
Note! The carcass must be completely covered with water; for this you can install an additional weight.
Marinade for goose, before baking in the oven, so that the poultry meat is juicy and tasty
This marinade can be called a “semi-dry rub”. It’s easy to prepare; you just need to take all the spices on the list, mix them and rub the poultry carcass with this mixture.
Ingredients:
- red sweet paprika – 1 teaspoon;
- ground black pepper – 0.5 teaspoon;
- Italian herbs – 1 teaspoon;
- dry basil – 1 teaspoon;
- dry garlic – 1 teaspoon;
- vegetable oil – 2 tbsp. spoons.
And of course salt. For 1 kilogram of meat you need to take 1 teaspoon of salt with a small slide. So, for a 3 kilogram carcass we take 3 teaspoons of salt.
Combine all ingredients in one cup and stir well with a spoon until smooth.
Be careful with spices, do not overdo it, do not put more than what is indicated in this recipe! If you are cooking for the first time, then you can get by with salt and ground pepper.
Preparation:
- Now we have a rather pleasant job ahead of us. Place the bird carcass on a cutting board and rub it well inside and out with the prepared, aromatic filling.
- After this, we place the carcass in a bag, tie it and send it to marinate for a day in the refrigerator.
- After the specified time has passed, remove the goose from the bag and stuff it with pieces of oranges and apples.
- Lubricate the surface of the bird with honey and rub with orange zest. For more flavor, make small cuts in the skin. Let it sit for 30 minutes and infuse with a honey-citrus aroma.
- Using toothpicks and twine, sew up the hole with the fruit. We tie the wings and legs with thread.
- Take three pieces of foil and wrap the bird in three layers. So where the toothpicks protrude, place an additional sheet of foil, folded in half. Place peeled pieces of onions and carrots on the sides of the carcass.
- Preheat the oven to 220-250 degrees and bake at this temperature for 1 hour. Next, reduce the temperature to 180 degrees and cook for another 1.5-2 hours.
- We take the goose out of the oven, open the foil and make a boat out of it around the delicacy. Take the steamed onions and carrots onto a plate. Remove some of the fat into a glass.
- Use a brush to coat the surface of the entire goose with juice and fat and place it in the oven, uncovered, for 20 minutes at 200 degrees. This is necessary in order to get a ruddy and golden crust.
Everything is ready and the solemn moment of tasting the dish comes. The meat turned out aromatic, tender and very, very tasty. Everyone will be happy with your culinary masterpiece for the holiday!
