The goose!

Ingredients for 6 servings:

• 1 goose, 6 kg
• 1 tbsp peppercorns
• 2 ½ tbsp sea salt
• 1 ½ tbsp brown sugar
• ½ tbsp instant vegetable broth
• goose stock
• Sauce powder for poultry sauce
• 5 apricot(s), dried
• 1 pear(s)
• 1 apple
• 2 onions
• 1 carrot(s)
• 2 oranges with peel
• ¼ celeriac
• Parsley
• mugwort
• marjoram
• 2 bunch soup vegetables

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Cooking/baking time approx. 5 hours; Total time approx. 6 hours

for a 6 kg goose with delicious stuffing – with information for 5 and 4 kg

Place the peppercorns, salt, sugar, and granulated broth in a mortar and pestle and grind everything finely. Wash the goose, trim off the fat, and generously rub the spice mixture all over the inside and outside. Chop the apricots, pear, apple, onions, carrot, oranges, celery, parsley, and mugwort, mix with 1 tablespoon of the spice mixture, and stuff the goose with it. Tie the legs together and place the goose breast-down on the oven rack. Place the dripping pan with the chopped vegetables underneath and pour in a large cup of water. Roast for 3 hours at 120°C (for 5 kg, 2 hours at 130°C, for 4 kg, 1 hour at 140°C). Then for 1 hour at 150°C (you may need to increase the temperature or grill briefly), as the back of the goose should be nicely browned after 4 hours. Now turn the bird. It’s best to handle it with gloves and simply turn it. Continue roasting: 1 hour at 150°C fan-assisted oven and 1 hour at 130°C fan-assisted grilling or using a conventional grill. The last hour is for the goose to brown nicely; you’ll need a bit of freestyle cooking and careful observation. Place the goose on a board, make deep cuts lengthwise in the legs and fold them down. Make two lengthwise cuts along the breastbone and, with a little help, remove the breast. Detach the wings and the legs. Remove the remaining meat, arrange it and don’t forget to snack. Serve the stuffing on the side. If you’re serving red cabbage or sauerkraut with the goose, remember to add a tablespoon of goose fat to each cabbage. For the sauce: since there isn’t much sauce for this version, I always cheat a little. I use ready-made goose stock and a touch of sauce powder for poultry sauce. After 5 hours of cooking, I pour the contents of the drippings through a sieve, skim off the fat, stir the vegetables into the sauce, and mix with the stock, sauce powder, sauce thickener, and spices to taste.