Table of Contents
Recipe
Traditional German Roasted Goose & Duck
Ingredients
The Filling for 5 kg Bird
- 6 bread rolls white
- 3 eggs medium
- 3 tbsp chives chopped
- 200 ml milk
- salt & papper
The bird
- 1 goose/duck 5kg
- 1 tsp salt to season the inside
- salt to season the outside
- 3 glasses water for roasting
- 4 tbsp cold, salty water
The sauce
- 100 ml cherry juice from the glass with sour cherries
- 1 tbsp lingonberry jam
- sugar
- salt & papper
For Serving
- Traditional German Potato Dumplings
- Traditional German Apple Red Cabbage
Instructions
The Filling
- Cut the bread rolls into small cubes.
- Warm up the milk. Pour over the bread cubes and let it rest for 10 minutes.
- Add eggs and chives, season with salt, and mix it with your hand.
The Bird
- Check and clean the outside and inside of the bird and remove any giblets.
- Pat the bird dry.
- Remove the butt with a knife.
- Cut off the excess skin from the neck.
- Check the skin and remove the rest of the feathers.
- If you have a large bird with thick skin you can poke the skin of the bird with a needle or a knife. This will help the fat to come out.
- Rub the bird with salt from the inside.
- Stuff the inside of the goose with the bread roll mixture.
- Sew up the cavity.
- You can tie the wing and the legs with the thread (please check the video on how).
- Rub the bird with salt from the outside.
- Place the bird in the cold oven on a wire rack breast down. Place a dutch oven underneath. This way the fat will drop into the dutch oven.
- Turn on the oven to 160°C (320°F) and set the timer for 45 minutes.
- For 1 kg bird, you need to count a little bit more than 1 hour in the oven.
- The instructions for 2-2,5 kg bird:After the first 45 min remove the dutch oven with the fat (keep it or not) and pour 1 glass of water into it. Put the dutch oven back in the oven. Let the bird roast for another 45-50 minutes. Remove the dutch oven with the drippings (keep it) and pour 1 glass of water into it. Put the dutch oven back in the oven.Turn the bird upside down and roast it for 30 minutes. Remove the dutch oven with the drippings (keep it) and pour 1 glass of water into it. Put the dutch oven back in the oven.Change the oven setting to a grill function and the temperature to 220°C (430°F). Brush the skin of the bird with cold salty water, and keep the bird around 10-15 minutes (depending on how brown you want the skin to be). Then turn the bird upside down and repeat the process.
- The instructions for 2,5-3,5 kg bird:After the first 45 min remove the dutch oven with the fat (keep it or not) and pour 1 glass of water into it. Put the dutch oven back in the oven.Let the bird roast for another 45 minutes. Remove the dutch oven with the drippings (keep it) and pour 1 glass of water into it. Put the dutch oven back in the oven.Let the bird roast for another 45 minutes. Remove the dutch oven with the drippings (keep it) and pour 1 glass of water into it. Put the dutch oven back in the oven.Turn the bird upside down and roast it for 45 minutes. Remove the dutch oven with the drippings (keep it) and pour 1 glass of water into it. Put the dutch oven back in the oven.Change the oven setting to a grill function and the temperature to 220°C (430°F). Brush the skin of the bird with cold salty water, and keep the bird around 10-15 minutes (depending on how brown you want the skin to be). Then turn the bird upside down and repeat the process.Â
- The instructions for 3,5-4,5 kg bird:After the first 45 min remove the dutch oven with the fat (keep it or not) and pour 1 glass of water into it. Put the dutch oven back in the oven.Let the bird roast for another 45 minutes. Remove the dutch oven with the drippings (keep it) and pour 1 glass of water into it. Put the dutch oven back in the oven.Let the bird roast for another 45 minutes. Remove the dutch oven with the drippings (keep it) and pour 1 glass of water into it. Put the dutch oven back in the oven.Let the bird roast for another 45 minutes. Remove the dutch oven with the drippings (keep it) and pour 1 glass of water into it. Put the dutch oven back in the oven.Turn the bird upside down and roast it for 60 minutes. Remove the dutch oven with the drippings (keep it) and pour 1 glass of water into it. Put the dutch oven back in the oven.Change the oven setting to a grill function and the temperature to 220°C (430°F). Brush the skin of the bird with cold salty water, and keep the bird around 10-15 minutes (depending on how brown you want the skin to be). Then turn the bird upside down and repeat the process.Â
- The instructions for 4,5-6 kg bird:After the first 60 min remove the dutch oven with the fat (keep it or not) and pour 1 glass of water into it. Put the dutch oven back in the oven.Let the bird roast for another 60 minutes. Remove the dutch oven with the drippings (keep it) and pour 1 glass of water into it. Put the dutch oven back in the oven.Let the bird roast for another 60 minutes. Remove the dutch oven with the drippings (keep it) and pour 1 glass of water into it. Put the dutch oven back in the oven.Turn the bird upside down and roast it for 90 minutes. Remove the dutch oven with the drippings (keep it) and pour 1 glass of water into it. Put the dutch oven back in the oven.Change the oven setting to a grill function and the temperature to 220°C (430°F). Brush the skin of the bird with cold salty water, and keep the bird around 10-15 minutes (depending on how brown you want the skin to be). Then turn the bird upside down and repeat the process. This way you ensure that the skin is crispy and shiny!
- The dutch oven will contain fat only when you remove it after the first 45 minutes of roasting. The next 1-4 times (depending on how big your bird is) the goose/duck will give up the juices as well which you want to keep for the gravy.
- If you don't have a fat separator you can keep the fat with juice in the freezer. This way it will be easier to separate the fat from the juices. To make the gravy we will need only the drippings.
- Or like me in the video - you can collect all the dripping and fat in one bag, seal it, and then cut off the bottom edge of the back to remove the juices from the bag.
- Remove the bird from the oven, take out the filling and make sure there are no threads left. Cut the filling into slices and set it aside. You can fry them in butter for a few minutes and serve them with the bird.
The Gravy
- Pour the drippings through the sieve.
- Separate the fat from the meat juice.
- Place the juice in the casserole, add cherry juice and lingonberry jam and mix it with a whisk. Thicken the gravy if you like with a butter and flour mixture, or Mondamin.
- Season it with salt, pepper, and sugar according to your taste.
- Serve the bird with red apple cabbage and potato dumplings.
- If you already prepared make-ahead gravy, you just need to add the drippings to the sauce and season it with salt, pepper, and sugar according to your taste.
Video
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Notes
Video
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Roasted Goose is one of the traditional meals eaten on Christmas Eve in Germany – but not the only one. Some of the families serve merely potato salad and sausages, some carp or roasted duck. In my husband’s family traditionally wild meat lands on the Christmas table. It’s a very different form of family to family. In Poland we eat differently – we have various Christmas dishes (12 dishes), and they are always the same, for most of them we had to wait all year long. That has got a charm though:)
The first time we prepared Roasted Goose for International Dinner Christmas Party where we have shared traditional meals with our friends. This year we had dishes from Poland, Germany, Slovakia, and Italy. We have started with homemade Slovakian sausage from our friend Katarina who got the recipe from her grandfather and has it produced here in Germany. The sausage was delicious – a little spicy – perfect! I was so glad I got some of those for Christmas this year! As an aperitif, really we served mulled wine.
Tools that might come in handy
As a second and third course, we had two polish dishes you know already: pierogi and creamy mushroom soup. The Polish Christmas Dinner always starts with the soup – which is either beetroot soup with mushroom dumplings or creamy mushroom soup. In my family, we prepared the mushroom one, although after time, when we started spending Christmas with my cousins, we served both of them! Pierogi for Christmas is usually filled with sauerkraut and mushrooms. There is undoubtedly a lot of mushrooms on the Christmas Dinner table in Poland.
As a next course, we had roasted goose to which you can find the recipe below. Preparing the 5kg bird was time-consuming. It took over 5 hours for the goose to be ready. The goose turned out amazing! I have never thought that this bird can be an as good roasted duck! Traditionally we cooked potato dumplings (from raw potatoes) and German red cabbage with apples.
We have finished our dinner with Pandoro with Zabaione and Slovakian Metrowy Kolacz. The Slovakian cake tasted like my childhood – my grandmother used to prepare the same pound cakes and very similar cream for our birthday cake. I have never expected you can combine those two things, pour chocolate on it and enjoy. This did surprise me.
Well done everybody, I think we did great!
FAQ
160°C (320°F).
Traditionally Germans serve roasted goose with Apple Red Cabbage and Potato Dumplings.
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