Christmas Goose

[S.A. Boggs]

Thinking of doing one instead of ham. Anyone who does this?
Sam

[Allen]

???? Aren't they kinda greasy?

[S.A. Boggs]

If prepared right, no.
Sam

[Art]

You do have to like dark meat.

I've only eaten wild goose and I find them very yummie. In fact the worst wild goose I ever ate was better than the best wild duck, and I've eaten some tasty wild quackers. Those were happy days.

I've eaten domestic duck and liked it a lot so I'm sure I'd like domestic goose at least as well. Sam is right, Just find a good receipe and don't overcook.

Supermarket geese are invariably frozen and consistent. If for some reason you want your goose fresh try a Chinese market, just check over them carefully to make sure you get the freshest. Those will come with heads and feet attached....you know those Asians - waste not want not.

Unrelated side note: The biggest issue with wild waterfowl is not cooking them dry, sort of like turkey that way. In fact wild ducks should be cooked medium. Think of them a steak. You should never have to worry much about a dry goose for the hollidays.

[S.A. Boggs]

You do have to like dark meat.

I've only eaten wild goose and I find them very yummie. In fact the worst wild goose I ever ate was better than the best wild duck, and I've eaten some tasty wild quackers. Those were happy days.

I've eaten domestic duck and liked it a lot so I'm sure I'd like domestic goose at least as well. Sam is right, Just find a good receipe and don't overcook.

Supermarket geese are invariably frozen and consistent. If for some reason you want your goose fresh try a Chinese market, just check over them carefully to make sure you get the freshest. Those will come with heads and feet attached....you know those Asians - waste not want not.

Unrelated side note: The biggest issue with wild waterfowl is not cooking them dry, sort of like turkey that way. In fact wild ducks should be cooked medium. Think of them a steak. You should never have to worry much about a dry goose for the hollidays.
The majority of our meat comes from my Amish friends, I have an "in" with their community. I just got our years' worth of large roasting chickens and boy are they good. Price was less than in stores and fresh. This one Amish brother runs a USDA commercial meat house, and the chicken was vacuum packed. In the December-January time frame I have a whole Angus that will be going into our freezers, and I placed the order for the following years beef. If you have an Amish community perhaps you should approach them to do business. Never had a problem and HONEST to a T.
Sam

[Art]

The majority of our meat comes from my Amish friends, I have an "in" with their community. I just got our years' worth of large roasting chickens and boy are they good. Price was less than in stores and fresh. This one Amish brother runs a USDA commercial meat house, and the chicken was vacuum packed. In the December-January time frame I have a whole Angus that will be going into our freezers, and I placed the order for the following years beef. If you have an Amish community perhaps you should approach them to do business. Never had a problem and HONEST to a T.
Sam

Thanks Sam. If there were an Amish or Mennonite community here I would certainly shop there. The closest I have is a friend of our daughter who is a rancher in a small way. Our girl gets some really good grass fed beef from her every year and donates some to us. We ration it through the year.

One thing about the OP. If our son in law would eat duck or goose it would probably be on our table for Thanksgiving or Christmas but its a no go with him. To make matters worse our daughter really doesn't care for ham. Therefore it's Turkey, whether we eat at our place or theirs. A bright spot is that traditional (if you have any Louisiana French ancestry) seafood gumbo on Christmas eve.

[S.A. Boggs]

Our Amish friends do nothing, but grass fed in their pastures. The flavor is much better than what one finds commercially. We grind our own hamburger using a weighed 80/20 ratio of meat to fat.
Sam

[Allen]

To make matters worse our daughter really doesn't care for ham. Therefore it's Turkey, whether we eat at our place or theirs. A bright spot is that traditional (if you have any Louisiana French ancestry) seafood gumbo on Christmas eve.

Any reason you can't have turkey AND ham?

Gumbo is difficult to make correctly from scratch but a lot of companies produce it frozen now that's not too bad. That's what I do and add extra shrimp and okra.

My wife doesn't cook turkey just for the 2 of us but still makes home made dressing. I buy the Butterball boneless turkey (comes with it's own giblet gravy packet inside), thaw it out in the fridge 2 days prior, then unwrap, rinse, wrap in foil but spread out, bake for about an hour. No one gets a drumstick but it sure is a lot faster and easier.

[Art]

Any reason you can't have turkey AND ham?

Gumbo is difficult to make correctly from scratch but a lot of companies produce it frozen now that's not too bad. That's what I do and add extra shrimp and okra.

It depends on where we eat and how much we want to cook. If we eat at our daughter's, well she ain't cookin' no ham. Here we can do both but it depends on how much the wife-cakes wants to work that day. We do cook a ham for us a one or two times a year and it is, of course, the gift that keeps on giving. We vacuum seal the leftovers and gnaw on it for months.

Gumbo: I used to make our own from scratch but for me now standing over a stove for the time it takes to get that roux just right is a problem so I have used the store bought base as a starter the last two years. I personally loath okra. I kid a lot that I'm not a very good southerner, catfish isn't my favorite fish though I do eat them if I catch them, I don't like grits and I loath okra. When we make gumbo its the file variety. The leftover meat on a turkey carcass goes into turkey gumbo...yummy.

Speaking of boneless, there were a couple of times we bought "Turduken" but that's real expensive and very seasonal.

[Allen]

I personally loath okra.

I can understand some people not liking boiled okra due to it being slimey but it adds it's own flavor to gumbo.

You don't even eat it fried?

Grits, I cook with milk to make extra smooth and not grainy. Sometimes I add extra butter and cedar cheese. Like rice, it's going to taste like whatever you put in it.