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Poultry tends to go straight from the fridge and into the oven. Let the goose reach room temperature before roasting…otherwise the exterior cooks too quickly, the middle bit takes too long; you’re left with a dry bird.

How big – work to a kilo per person – a 4-5kg bird will feed 5-6 people.

Most people bung their goose straight into a roasting tin and put it in the oven.

I’ve tried lots of different ways with goose over the years and found that unlike duck, the legs need extra slow and longer cooking – yet the breasts benefit from being only cooked to medium.

Best to remove the legs from the goose by pulling them away from the main carcass and cutting them from the body at the leg joint.

Put the legs in a snug fitting oven tray. Season the legs and cook for 2 ½ hours on a slow 160°C heat. Drain off the fat occasionally – save it for your roasties on Christmas day.

When they’re done, take them out of the oven, remove any giblets from the body cavity and cook the breasts on the bone of the carcass. Poultry tastes far better cooked on the bone. Season the breasts, season inside the body cavity.

Increase the oven to 200°C, get a sufficiently large roasting tin very hot and place the breasts – beast down on the roasting tin, cook for an hour then turn the bird over (breasts up) and give them another ½ hour.

In the last 15 minutes return the legs to the oven to heat up.

Remove all from the oven and leave to rest for 20 minutes. Save all that lovely goose fat.

Sprouts, shredded and pan fried with lardons, shallots & thyme go nicely.

Perhaps a baked bramley apple – cut into chunky wedges and baked for 10 minutes.

New potatoes roasted with sea salt, black pepper and garlic in the fat rendered from the legs would be triumphant.

IngredientsÌý

• 1 medium sized red cabbage
• Salt
• Onions
• Soft brown sugar (Light or dark)
• Spiced vinegar

Ìý

Method

Choose a firm, fresh cabbage. Remove any discoloured outer leaves. Cut the cabbage into quarters then into shreds. Put layers of the shreds into a large basin or dish, sprinkling each layer with salt. Leave overnight. Next day drain very thoroughly in a colander, pressing out all the surplus liquid.

Pack a layer of cabbage, about 7cm into large jars. Cover with a layer of thinly sliced onion, and sprinkle with 1 x 5ml spoon brown sugar. Then add anotherÌý 7cm of cabbage, another layer of onion and sugar. Cover with cold spiced vinegar, put on vinegar proof covers and leave for at least 5 days to a week before opening.

NOTE: Do not make too much at one time as the cabbage quickly looses its crispness.

I’ve included my delicious mince pie recipe and our ever popular mincemeat recipe. However, try swapping the usual pastry pie lid with my funky pie topping alternatives.

There’s a good argument you have quite enough pastry with a mince pie’s case; try topping these Christmas favourites with the following.

Crumble some Wenleydale over the top of your mincemeat filling. Bake for 5 minutes at a pre-heated Food on Friday 180°C to slightly melt and warm the cheese. Sounds suspect, tastes tremendous.

Pipe a little Italian meringue on top of each filled tart, then fork the meringue up into snowy peaks. Pop into a pre-heated Food on Friday 180°C oven for 7 minutes until your spikey top slightly browns.

120g caster sugar

1 tsp liquid glucose

2 tbsp water

2 large free-range egg whites

Made by whisking hot sugar syrup into egg whites, this mixture is more stable than the more familiar French meringue. As it holds up well ahead of time, it’s ideal for mousses. Once the syrup is all incorporated, continue to whisk until the meringue cools to room temperature.