Smoked Goose with Wild Rice Stuffing Recipe
When looking to pair with a dark, imperial stout, it is extremely difficult to find foods that can stand up to the stout's bold taste. In most cases, stouts will overpower the meal, leaving the food you have so lovingly prepared tasting bland and boring. However, there is one bold contender in the stout-food pairing arena: smoked goose. A rich layer of smoky fat on top, followed by cooked-to-perfection meat, will have your taste buds singing. This recipe also includes a delicious wild rice stuffing. Pair all of this with your favorite dark stout, and you have yourself a real heavyweight contender of a meal.
If you are really looking to explore the dark side, try brewing this Dark Forset Stout. Hints of raspberry and cocoa give this roasty stout a wonderful complexity, and will pair wonderfully with the bold flavors coming from your smoked goose.
Ingredients
- 2 whole wild geese (3 pounds each)
- 2 tablespoons butter, softened
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 carrots, diced
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 1 onion, cut in half
- 1 turnip, split
- 1 garlic bulb, cut in half
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon whole peppercorns
- Reserved goose bones
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 2 tablespoons marjoram
- 3 tablespoons fresh sage, torn into pieces
- 2 cups dry red wine
- 2 cups cooked wild rice
- 2 cups rye bread cubes
- 1 cup roasted chestnuts, shelled
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon caraway seeds
- 1 cup goose stock (see above)
- Turn geese upside down and cut out the backbone using poultry shears. Then, carefully slit along both sides of the rub cage with a boning knife to remove the breast plate, scraping away meat as you cut. Grab the thigh bones from inside the goose and pull the leg towards you and out of the socket, leaving meat attached to the body. Finally, severe the wings at the joint as close to the body as possible. Reserve the wings and bones for your stock.
- Slice the breast of each goose open in order to insert the stuffing. Rub the entire surface of each goose with 1 tablespoon of softened butter.
- To prepare goose stock, place 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the goose stock vegetables and saute for 2 minutes. Add remaining ingredients, including bones, and cook for 1 hour.
- To prepare the stuffing, melt 2 tablespoons butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, carrot, and herbs (excluding caraway seeds), and saute for 5 minutes. Then, add your wine. Simmer for about 10 minutes or until thickened. Add your wild rice, rye bread and chestnuts. Scrape mixture into a large bowl, blend int he egg, caraway seed and 1 ladle of goose stock and mix until evenly coated. Spoon stuffing into the goose and tie securely with butchers twine.
- Rub the outside of the goose with butter, sage, and marjoram.
- Smoke the geese in a stove top or conventional smoker at 200-225 Fahrenheit for one to two hours, or until the internal temperature is 170F. Note: the bigger the geese you are smoking, the longer it will take to reach the appropriate internal temperature.