192: Roast goose, juniper sauce and apple and lemon puree, p385

New Year's Eve! And the last two recipes! Hurrah! We searched high and low for a goose that wasn't going to bankrupt us and the hubby marvellously managed to find a frozen one in Sainsbury's for a mere £28, on Christmas Eve. Ha! We'd never had goose before, either of us, and ironically found out two days before Christmas that the aunt we were visiting for Christmas Day had decided to roast two geese for lunch this year - so we ended up having it twice in a week! Bizarre. Luckily we both really liked it on Christmas Day - phew.

Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture until we'd finished eating... whoops... but here's a picture of the carcass :)

It's not really a recipe in the book - no additions other than some salt, but I followed the cooking instructions exactly, and it was perfect. Not dry, not too fatty, crispy on the outside, and I did all of the accompaniments - the onion gravy from the pork leg with added juniper and redcurrant jelly (okay, cranberry sauce, but near enough...), the cabbage with orange and juniper, roast potatoes, and apple and lemon puree. Delicious. If goose wasn't so pricey, I would do this again. Frequently...

Now, on New Year's Day, the carcass has been picked, an enormous pot of stock has been made with the remains, there's a big tub of goose fat saved for future roasties, and I'm going to freeze some of the stock and use the rest to make some restorative noodle soup with the picked goose meat. Yum.

And here are the dinner guests post-goose:

183: Warm soused mackerel, p68

Last mackerel recipe ticked off the list - but not our favourite, unfortunately. The fish was beautifully moist, being soused in the vinegar and wine, and lovely herby flavours came through, but we both decided we prefer the crispness given to mackerel when grilled or pan fried, rather that letting the skin end up a bit soggy. Plus T hated the smell of the vinegar, thought it smelt like old socks, bizarrely (I didn't think it did, but the smell was very vinegary, almost eye wateringly). Hey ho. Lovely served with the sauteed potatoes, but again, one fillet was enough for each of us, not two as suggested.

Only 10 recipes left to go!!

138: Cabbage with orange and juniper, p385, and 139: Potatoes with duck fat and garlic, p377

A Christmassy veggie side and potatoes to go with the pork served for dinner tonight. I made a full batch of the cabbage, foolishly, using a whole (small) red cabbage. I'm going to be eating it all week, since T almost certainly won't... Enough to serve 12 as a side, not 6, but anyhow... :)

The juniper berries weren't too overwhelming which was a good thing and the lemon and orange juice added a lovely citrusy zing which stopped the cabbage being too dull. Not sure about the function of the celery, didn't really add much, but the apple was a good thing and onion always is.

I cheated with the potatoes. The recipe says duck fat, and I used goose fat. Well, I needed it earlier in the year for a recipe, and bought a jar, which has been sitting untouched in the fridge ever since. I didn't really want to go out and buy another jar, this time of duck fat, which would also sit untouched in the fridge... so I cheated... duck/goose, how different can the fat taste? Is that cheating too much?? The garlic knocked your socks off - only one clove, but still, immediate repetitions all through dinner, curious! I wasn't sure about sauteeing the potatoes in so much fat, they took forever to cook and then suddenly started to brown which was a bit alarming, and I had to drain them on kitchen towel before serving. But they were rather tasty...

So the pork was served with the red cabbage and sauteed potatoes, with some gently sauteed baby courgettes on the side, and delicious gloopy winey oniony gravy. Yum! Finished off the strawberry water ice, and some more of the melon sorbet for pudding.

122: Roast pork with grapes, juniper and Vin Santo, p308

Parents visiting for Sunday lunch today, so followed the Nigel souffle-opener with another four recipes from the book...The fat on the pork loin wasn't scored and it was really difficult to cut into it, even with my sharpest sharpest knife, grrr, so the spice mixture ended up kinda rubbed all over the meat and balanced on top :)

Was a bit hesitant about the juniper berries, can't stand the taste of juniper (yes, that includes gin too therefore...) and this smelt very junipery during cooking, but luckily the end taste wasn't too strong and overpowering. Although it was definitely there... And the dry marsala - yum! Definitely a good thing, and combined with the grapes (which were pretty blackened by the end of the cooking), made the most amazing deep, rich, tasty gravy. Served with roast potatoes as per the recipe, and the baked onions and lemon mint peas as in the next couple of recipes...