| GENERAL | | 1 x Oven-ready goose, weighing about 4-4.5kg (9-10lb) | | 1 x Onions, chopped (1 to 2) | | 2 x Cloves garlic, crushed | | 1 lrg Lemon, sliced | | 600 ml , (1-1 12 pints) dry, (600 to 900) cider | | 1 tsp Ground cinnamon | | 1 pch Ground cloves, (1 to 2) | | 1/2 tsp Ground nutmeg | | 1 oz , (25-50g) butter, (1 to 2) | | FOR THE APPLES | | 8 sm Golden delicious apples | | 100 gm Ground almonds, (4oz) | | 1 tsp Sugar, plus a little extra | | 1 pkt of powdered saffron, plus a little extra | | 1/2 tsp Orange flower water, up to 1, up to | | 1 dsp currants | | 1 x Egg yolk |
| | Remove the excess fat from inside the bird. Put the chopped onion , crushed garlic and sliced lemon inside the bird. Boil the cider with the spices , pour over the bird and marinate for at least 4 hours, or overnight if that is simpler. Spoon over the marinade regularly, and ensure that there is plenty inside the bird. If you have refrigerated it ir taken it from a cold larder, let it stand to reach room temperature before cooking. Pour off the marinaade and keep it to one side, but leave the vegetables inside the bird. | | Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4/350 F/180 C. | | Roast the goose on a rack in a pan for 15 minutes per pound (450g). | | It has a better and sweeter taste when still a little pink. During cooking, pour off the fat and reserve it, but do not baste the bird. | | Brown the giblets in a little of the goose fat, add all of the marinade and cook over a medium heat for about 45 minutes, or until it is rich and starting to reduce . Strain through muslin or a very fine sieve, and keep warm. | | Core the apples and score a line right round them through the skin, about one third from the top. Mix the almonds , saffron , orange flower water and currants together with a spoonful or more of the hot goose fat and stuff the apples. | | Dribble more goose fat over the apples and bake in an ovenproof dish at the bottom of the oven for 30-45 minutes - they should be only just done when the goose is ready. | | Once the goose is ready, take it from the pan and leave to stand, covered lightly, for at least 15 minutes, so that it sets nicely. | | Pour off the remaining fat from the pan and add any accumulated cooking juices to the giblets - marinade gravy , and reduce this further so that there are a few spoons of sauce per person. | | A few minutes before you are ready to serve, carefully remove the top part of the cooked skin of the apples, revealing the white cooked pulp. | | Mix the egg yolk with the extra saffron and the extra touch of sugar. | | Paint this mixture over the exposed apples and replace in the oven for just 5 or so minutes until set. | | Whisk the 25-50g (1-2oz) butter onto the sauce over a medium heat. | | Arrange the goose with its golden apples on a serving dish, pour the spiced sauce into a hot jug and take to your festive table. |
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