Goose in Orange Sauce

Thaw the bird (overnight in cold water or in refrigerator) and clean thoroughly. Rub the inside of the bird with coarse salt and ground pepper.

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Stuff the bird with orange peels and slices, quartered onions, garlic, celery ribs, carrots, and whatever other roasting vegetables you like. Place the bird breast-side down on a roasting rack in a large roasting pan.

Put the bird in the preheated oven and let cook for about an hour. Turn the bird over. (If you are using a wild bird—which you should be!—that is relatively lean, you can drape three or four bacon slices over the breast at this point; this will help baste the goose as it continues to cook.) The bird will need another two hours or so to cook. If you like your meat in general medium, you will want to make sure not to overcook the goose. A meat thermometer will be helpful.

When the goose is almost done, warm up stock in a large saucepan. You should try to make the stock from the goose neck and giblets if possible; canned chicken stock can, however, be used. Add orange juice to the stock, to taste. You may want to season it as well. Use a basting bulb to extract drippings from the roasting pan. In a small saucepan, prepare a roux with the drippings. Err on the side of making too much roux. Bring the stock and juice to a boil and reduce; reduce it for as long as your patience allows. Then stir the roux into the sauce, a tablespoon at a time, until you reach the desired consistency.

For best preparation, let the bird sit for about 15 minutes after removing it from the oven. Do not carve at the table; instead, remove one entire breast (or both) and carve the breast meat in slices. You can serve breast meat slices along with whole wings, thighs, and legs. I like to serve this with stuffing (any type you like; incorporate the goose drippings or stock if possible), the roasting vegetables form inside the bird, and sweet potatoes which I have sliced into discs and sautéed slowly in butter with some salt and pepper.

Note: I should have a better estimate of the cooking time, but I don't. I do find the thermometer to be very helpful. I also prefer to make stuffing separately from the bird. If I draw drippings from the roasting pan, the stuffing gets all the flavor it needs from the goose, but the roasting vegetables in the cavity give the goose a better flavor than it would get from the stuffing.