Christmas Roast Goose

RoastedHardPrep 30 minCook 3hServes 8

The old-fashioned Christmas bird: rich dark meat, gloriously crisp skin, and enough rendered fat to roast the best potatoes of the year.

Ingredients

1 whole goose (10–12 lb), thawed, giblets removed
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 onions, quartered
2 apples, quartered
1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
2 bay leaves
1 cup chicken stock, for the pan

Steps

Heat the oven to 325°F. Remove excess fat from the cavity and pat the goose very dry.
Prick the skin all over with a sharp fork or skewer, especially around the legs — this lets the fat render out. Do not pierce the meat.
Season inside and out with salt and pepper. Fill the cavity with the onions, apples, thyme and bay.
Set the goose breast up on a rack in a deep roasting pan. Pour the stock into the pan.
Roast about 3 hours, draining the rendered fat from the pan every 45 minutes (save it for potatoes).
It is done when the thigh reads 175°F and the skin is deep golden and crisp. Rest 30 minutes before carving.

Serve with: braised red cabbage, roast potatoes cooked in goose fat, and apple sauce.

A goose renders a lot of fat — a deep pan and a rack are essential, or the bird will sit in its own fat and never crisp.

Find this recipe in the Holidays section on the RecipeDelish home page, where you can scale it, print a clean PDF, download the shopping list and use cook mode.

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