There’s nothing like an old-fashioned Christmas goose for a festive holiday dinner! Here are two recipes for roasting that lovely fowl–one from 1856 and another from 1881.

an old fashioned roast goose for Christmas dinner — Photo Credit: The 1800’s Housewife.

Dear friends ~

Today’s email is little more than a quick note (probably a relief after the epic wall of words I sent out on Monday, talking about mince pies!).

I wanted to make sure I got you my favorite recipe for Roast Goose in plenty of time, in case you may be thinking of an old-fashioned goose for Christmas dinner.

In fact, I’m going to include two different Roast Goose recipes here. Both are wonderful. The photos you’ll see in this email are from last Christmas Day, when I made the recipe from Practical Cookery, with the bread and sage stuffing.

I’m featuring the recipe from Miss Parloa’s New Cook Book and Marketing Guide though, because if I could only give a person one recipe for roasting a goose, it would probably be this one. It’s simple, no-nonsense, and that potato dressing is just a nice change of pace, after the bread-based stuffing most of us enjoy with our Thanksgiving turkey.

Both recipes are heavenly, and if you’re lucky enough to have access to a goose this holiday season, I’d encourage you to give either of these a try!

~ Anna

a roast goose — Photo Credit: The 1800’s Housewife.

ROAST GOOSE

Stuff the goose with a potato dressing made in the following manner: Six potatoes, boiled, pared and mashed fine and light; one table-spoonful of salt, one teaspoonful of pepper, one spoonful of sage, two table-spoonfuls of onion juice, two of butter.
Truss, and dredge well with salt, pepper and flour.
Roast before the fire (if weighing eight pounds) one hour and a half; in the oven, one hour and a quarter.
Make gravy the same as for turkey.
No butter is required for goose, it is so fat. Serve with apple sauce.
Many people boil the goose half an hour before roasting, to take away the strong flavor. Why not have something else if you do not like the real flavor of the goose?
Miss Parloa’s New Cook Book and Marketing Guide, 1881

Here’s a photo of the recipe as it appears in the cookbook:

an 1881 recipe for roast goose — *From Miss Parloa’s New Cook Book and Marketing Guide, 1881.* Photo Credit: The 1800’s Housewife.

A FEW COOKING NOTES:

I’m keeping today’s notes short, and thankfully this recipe is about as simple and low-fuss as it gets.

How juice those onions?

There is probably a “right” way to do this, but what worked well for me was to dice half an onion, put the pieces into my handheld citrus juicer, and just press the juice out. Half an onion gave more than enough for the two “table-spoonfuls”.

This didn’t ruin the juicer, by the way. I let it sit with a sprinkling of baking soda while I finished getting the goose in the oven, then washed like usual. No lingering onion smell.

How do you truss a goose?

Basically what you’re doing with trussing, is tying or skewering the goose so that it stays in a pleasing shape, with wings and legs close to the body as it roasts.

This site describes how to truss using both skewers, and twine (the method I used for the goose pictured in these photos)

Here’s a very quick video that tells how to truss waterfowl with just twine, which has since become my go-to method. It’s not a well produced video, but quick, simple, and doesn’t waste time.

an uncooked goose, stuffed and trussed — Photo Credit: The 1800’s Housewife.

What temperature should the oven be?

When roasting a goose using this recipe, I went with a temperature of 350° F. My 6-pound goose cooked in the same amount of time as the 8-pound goose called for in the recipe (an hour and 15 minutes).

Next time I roast a goose, I’ll go with 375° F, and see if that gives me the same timing as the recipe. This is the temperature I’d suggest.

When is the goose done?

It should be richly golden brown, with loose joints, and the juices should run clear when a deeply-inserted skewer is withdrawn. According the USDA, goose should be cooked to an internal temperature of 165° F.

an old fashioned roast goose — Photo Credit: The 1800’s Housewife.

Another recipe, with bread stuffing

Here’s the other recipe I wanted to give you, in case you’d prefer a bread stuffing, and more involved instruction. This is from Miss Hall’s Practical Cookery and Domestic Economy, published in 1856.

a recipe for roast goose from 1856 — *From Practical Cookery and Domestic Economy, 1856.* Photo Credit: The 1800’s Housewife.

I love it how this recipe also suggests exactly what to serve along with your Roast Goose. (It reminds me that I want to make the “dressed celery” to go along with it this year…something I neglected last time around!)

If you’d like to go with all authentic dishes, here’s an 1845 recipe for apple pie, and an 1887 recipe for mince pie. Both are absolutely delicious!

If you’ve never had a goose for Christmas, and you’re able to get your hands on one, this really makes for a special dinner.

Don’t forget to save all that good fat that renders out of the bird for cooking other dishes with, it’s wonderful stuff!

Also, I just want to pull us all back to the closing line of the recipe from Miss Parloa: “Why not have something else if you do not like the real flavor of the goose?”

When I read that line, it was about so much more than whether to serve goose or not. It was an invitation to allow ourselves freedom from traditions that don’t actually bring us joy.

I think that’s a wonderful perspective, as we enter this final, busy week before Christmas.

Until next time, ~ Anna

This post was originally published in the 1800’s Housewife newsletter. Not on the mailing list? You can join here to receive full recipes with cooking notes straight to your inbox!

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