One of the difficult things about a large meal with a large bird can be timings. Vegetables that can be prepared in advance are good, particularly where it’s a two part cooking process. You can par-cook the green vegetables, cool them quickly and then reheat (with a quantity of double cream as in the case of the petit pois a la Francaise recipe). Red cabbage can also be made in advance.
Space in the oven can be difficult too. The only way to get around it – if you have a small oven – is to cook some things ahead of time. Chipolatas wrapped in bacon can easily be cooked in advance and reheated whilst the bird rests. The same is true of baked apples.
Baked Apples
Baked apples are a traditional thing to serve with a Michaelmas Goose, being perfectly in season.
They are simple to make.
Apples – 1 per person
Prunes – 2 per apple
Nutmeg – a little
Gin – a jigger
Earl Grey tea
Butter 4oz, melted
Soak the prunes in the tea and gin, together with the nutmeg. Meanwhile core the apples. Pop two prunes into each apple. Pour over melted butter and bake for 45 minutes.
The baked apples were not the hit of the meal, but I rather liked them.
Seasonal Vegetables a la Francaise
See my earlier recipe here. This time I used peas, runner beans, kale and leeks.
Red Cabbage
(feeds about 20 – worth doing lots as it freezes well)
Two red cabbages
An onion
A couple of large cooking apples
Nutmeg
Cinnamon
A couple of ounces of sugar
¼ pint of port
A little water - perhaps
A little red wine vinegar
Butter
Shred the cabbage, and finely chop the onion and apples. Melt butter in a very large pan. Fry cabbage, onions and apples a little. Add spices and sugar, and then the liquid. Bubble it about a bit. There shouldn’t be too much water.
Put in a lowish over (150 ish) for three hours, checking every forty minutes, stirring, and maybe adding more water if necessary.
Roast Potatoes
Par-boil these and then give them about 45 minutes in a hot oven. Put a tin of goose fat in the oven for 15 minutes before you need to put the potatoes in. They can go in 15 minutes before the goose is ready and then finish off whilst it rests.
Sauces
Bread sauce and apple sauce are both very easy, and I can’t be bothered to write about them... except to say that I love bread sauce. Giblet gravy is made by simmering the giblets with carrot onion and herbs the night before the feast, and making a stock. Then use the stock, together with pan juices, to make a gravy.