Baked Goose Breast

By gnikylime

The base http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/goose-recipes/spiced-roast-goose/ and notes from my baked turkey breast recipe http://www.keyingredient.com/recipes/910485042/baked-turkey-breasts/, plus http://www.splendidtable.org/story/cook-your-goose-slowly-at-a-low-heat-to-let-the-fat-render-out and http://www.wnyc.org/story/recipe-pan-roasted-goose-breasts-orange-and-ouzo/.

Ingredients

• Goose breast, boneless with skin
• Touch olive oil
• 10 g star anise
• 10 g fennel seeds
• 6 g coriander seeds
• 3 g Sichuan pepper
• 2.5 g cloves
• 6.5 g cinnamon sticks
• 2 - 3 threads of saffron
• 10 g soft brown sugar (alternatively, mix 5 g. white sugar and 5 g. molasses)
• 7 g sea salt
• 3 g whole black peppercorns
• 1 clementine
• 1/2 a bunch of fresh rosemary
• 2 onions, cut into 1/3-in.[.85-cm.]-thick disks
• 3 carrots, cut into 1/3-in[.85-cm.].-thick disks
• 3 sticks of celery, cut into 1/3-in.[.85-cm.]-thick pieces
• 1 handful of fresh bay leaves

Preparation

Step 1

Take goose breast out of the refrigerator and let warm to room temperature. Pat the breasts dry with paper towels. If you are working with a domesticated goose or a very fat duck, use a sharp knife to score the skin (but not the meat) in a crosshatch pattern, making the slashes about 1 inch across. This helps the fat render and will give you a crispier skin. Do not score the skin of a wild goose unless it is very fatty.

Preheat oven to 325F/163C.

To make the spice mix, blitz all of the ingredients in a food processor to a fine powder. Rub the goose all over with a little olive oil and half of the spice mix, making sure you get into all the nooks and crannies. (Reserve the remaining half for the red cabbage.)

Grease a baking dish large enough to hold all of the goose with olive oil. Line the bottom of the dish with the onion, carrot, and celery disks. Distribute the herbs and mandarin pieces on top of the onions. Place the goose breasts on the top of everything else.

Check after 40 minutes and continue checking every 5 minutes. When the breast hits 160F/71C internal temperature, remove from the oven. Let it rest for at least 45 minutes.

Take a big frying pan and put in about a tablespoon of that goose fat. Put it over medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot, cook the goose breast skin-down for 2 - 4 minutes to get a nice brown on the skin.

Reserve the remaining rendered fat for future use.