I went over to Kaufland supermarket on Saturday specifically to buy some of those cute goose legs http://cookinginsens.com/2012/11/07/roasted-goose-sandwich-with-bottom-of-the-pan-relish/. They were all gone!
In their place was a bin full of frozen goose breasts or gansebrusts. Why not? I hadn’t used my superior boning skills in a long time 🙂 I learned to bone poultry by looking at diagrams in a cook book, starting with a Cornish game hen and foolishly taking on a whole turkey for a Thanksgiving dinner one year. I think back on that with horror. I thought it would never end.
The turkey was a success but no walk in the park like this goose breast. You could practically remove the bones from the meat with your hands but I did use a knife in the prescribed scraping manner and was able to produce two decent looking goose breasts.
As I was taking photos of my Ethiopian panels today, I thought of an incident that occurred one Christmas. The cat, as cats are wont to do, was climbing the Christmas tree. My father yelled, “Get out of there, you pointy head S.O.B.!” Shocked and confused not because of his language, he was a sailor in World War II after all, the whole family turned to look at him then at the cat who, the last time we looked, didn’t have a pointy head. The ears, he was talking about the ears.
Taking advantage of the mass hilarity, the cat made his escape, deciding to wait for a more propitious opportunity to play his Game of Ornaments. I thought of this because of the panels. Apparently having inherited my father’s descriptive genius, I call them the Big Eyed People 🙂
Although this was not a “gavage” fed goose, it was tasty and I would buy it again.
Balsamic Goose Breast with Courgettes
1 goose breast, boned, halved and the skin scored
Salt and pepper
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp fresh ginger, minced
2 garlic cloves, smashed
2 tbsp olive oil
2 scallions, sliced
2 garlic cloves, slivered
3 courgettes, sliced
1 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped
Salt and pepper
Parmesan, shredded
Season the goose with salt and pepper and set aside. Prepare the marinade by mixing the vinegar, broth, honey, ginger and smashed garlic cloves together. Pour over the goose breast and marinate for at least 2 hours.
Sear the goose breast, skin side down for about 4 minutes, pour out the fat in the pan and sear on the other side for 4 minutes. Place the breast in a 425 F oven for 10-15. Allow to rest for about 5 minutes, then slice.
Saute the scallions and garlic in the olive oil until aromatic. Add the courgettes and saute until just tender. Add the oregano, salt and pepper and cook for another minute. Sprinkle with shredded Parmesan before serving.
Wine Suggestion: Crozes Hermitage
How wonderful to be able to buy goose breast – bizarrely the name for goose in Spanish is Ganso, never thought the language would have anything in common with German! Chuckled at your father´s description of the cat and love your panels.
It may be down to the fact that the Romans owned Spain and Germany – the Latin for goose is anser 😉
You wouldn’t think that German would have anything to do with “regular” language 😀
Aha – it all makes sense now!
Thank you Chica. My Dad was so funny! I really miss him.
Your goose breasts sounds delicious. Oh to be able to buy all the wonderful products you do living in Europe. I know you will miss that when you return to the states.
Thank you Karen. But we’ll always have Sens 🙂
That is true and I know that is where you heart seems to be.
My heart is in Sens but I haven’t lived in Pennsylvania yet. I’m hoping to like it as well 🙂 Honesdale is a small town about the same size as Sens. Our house is a French style Tudor, located in the town’s historical district and built by a Huguenot descendant from Brittany. Talk about serendipity.
I remember the photo when you had the closing.
That looks delicious – I love the crispy skin and fatty layer on a goose or duck 😉
Me too!
poor little cat..just being curious as they all are…your goose looks just wonderful, and thanks for sharing a wine suggestion…lovely post..sarah
Thank you Sarah.
This looks delicious. I will be eating greylag goose this weekend, I may try your breast recipe with a bit of confit leg, time permitting (and dependent on the age/tenderness of the goose – it can be a bit like roulette with wild local birds). Thanks for the idea, and the pointy-headed cat story – reminds me of my dad..! Tracey
Thank you Tracey. Take some pictures, I’d like to see your confit 🙂
You have encouraged me to go for the confit 🙂 Of course I can forward photographs, but they won’t be as enticing as yours 🙁
For the breasts, I was wondering what quality of balsamic you would recommend? I have various qualities, but would not want to use the best and find it overpowers, or indeed a low quality that might ruin the dish. I propose using something middling?
Middling sounds right. You don’t want to exaggerate but want to go higher than a store brand balsamic vinegar.
Cheers, Tracey
Goose isn’t common here in Raleigh, NC but I am sure I would work for a pork roast!
I think it would Arthur.
Your goose breast looks delicious and expertly cooked to a moist medium-rare with a lovely crisp skin. Your poultry boning skills are very enviable. I think a lot of people quiver in fear at the prospect of carving a turkey, let alone boning an entire beast. Thanks for sharing the great recipe
Thank you Fiona. The turkey was a stupid kid mistake that turned out well 🙂
Although I can be a little clumsy, and not very ‘clean’ with the knife; boning meat relaxes me. I like it! So that goose would be nice to me 😛
And I enjoy the recipe, we have to try at home, that touch of ginger and cloves, and that mixture of balsamic and honey, wow, it has to be amazing!
And I don’t want to be sweet-talker, but all your meat and poultry recipes we’ve tried, never fail!!
Thank you Paula. It makes me feel great that you like the recipes because we certainly do and it’s nice to share.
Wonderful recipe. I love the panels!
Thank you Georgia 🙂
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Well done in deboning those duck breasts
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I ´ve never tried goose, just duck. This recipe looks terrific! 🙂
Thank you Katya.
you are welcome!
Looks effing great as per usual 🙂
Thanks an effing lot 😀
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Just posted some photos of my confit efforts, http://foodandforagehebrides.wordpress.com/2013/02/04/greylag-confit/ and tried out your recipe for breasts, really delicious. Thank you! Tracey