The latest BBC countryfile (Dec 6 – you can still see it on the iPlayer) had a spot of goose v turkey and as usual it’s inconclusive.

In my household, we always have both!

The problem with a turkey is that it has no taste and can get very dry. Goose on the other hand is a bit greasy and there is not a lot of it – the legs tend to go dry.

The trick is to put the turkey inside the goose.

First , get your goose. If you have a good butcher, get him/her to ballentine (take the bone out) of the goose. If you are doing it, try practicing this on a duck first.

The best way to bone a goose/duck is to start at the bottom of the animal.  I use a fish filleting knive  because the blade is long and flexible. The knive has to be very sharp (be very careful, you are easing the meat off the bone, not slicing it. Short strokes against thee bone works best.

Cut the parson’s nose off and use the exposed part to slide your knive in against the bone. Work your way round to the legs – snap the bone at the joint between the main carcass and the leg joint. Next work all the way up the spine until you hit the neck cavity.

Now, inset the knive into the neck cavity from the neck end, remove the wish bones and cut the breast meat off the chest bone – where the chest bone joins the skin is very tricky to cut . You will also find it difficult to get the meat off the breast bone in a single piece. Just leave some meat on the bone. You can always remove the meat later and stuff it back into the goose.

Cut through (be careful) the joint where the wing is attached to the main carcass. Eventually, you will be able to slide the carcass out from the the backside of the bird. Do not worry if you cut through the skin – you can use a larding needle and string to hold the “wounds” together – please remember to remove before serving!

The whole operation will take around 40 minutes and probably an hour for the first time. Have plenty of booze around to help your mini breaks. Do this the day before!

Now stuff a crown of turkey into the goose. Just the breast meat – no skin or bone. I usually put it in as 4 pieces. Next insert a lump (about a kilo) of gammon (soaked overnight to remove excess salt). Just the lean meat, no skin or bone.

You are nearly there. Now put sausage meat into all the gaps and use this to puff up the bird so it looks like a large haggis with legs.

For the kosher and halal version, use stuffing such as sage and onion instead of sausage meat.

Truss up the neck and the bottom hole and you should have a 12-15 lb (6-7kilo) bird. Roast for 20 minutes per pound (approx 45min  per kilo). Baste every half an hour and pour the fat off the roasting tray when it has too much fat. Start at 200 degrees c for the first 20 minutes, then 160 degrees – drop by 10 degrees for a fan oven. The best way to cook this is to stick a thermometer into the bird. When the inside of the bird registers 80 degrees, i’ts cooked. Do wrap the wings and legs in foil so they will dry out. 

Leave the bird in a warm place for 20 minutes – cover with a foil tent – before serving.

Enjoy

Eddie