Roast goose with dried-fruit stuffing - country living ho

8 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
cup Butter, margarine, or rendered goosefat
¼ cup Chopped celery
¼ cup Chopped onion
8 cups Day-old bread cubes
cup Chopped, unpared apples
cup Chopped, dried apricots
teaspoon Salt
¼ teaspoon Pepper
¾ teaspoon Dried thyme leaves
1 10 to 12-lb frozen goose, thawed
Celery roses and celery leaves for garnish (opt.)

Directions

1. In 5-quart Dutch oven over medium heat, cook celery and onion in hot butter or fat until tender, stirring occasionally. Add bread cubes, apples, apricots, salt, pepper, and thyme leaves, Remove from heat.

2. Heat oven to 400'F. Remove neck and giblets from goose. (Cook in wa- ter to cover, with onion, celery, and seasonings to make gravy, if you wish.) Remove excess fat from body cavity and neck skin. Rinse goose; pat dry with paper towels.

3. Wings may be removed at second joint and cooked with neck and gib- lets, or leave wings attached and bend them to the back.

4. Fill neck and body cavities with fruit-stuffing mixture. Fasten neck skin to back with skewers. Tie legs together or tuck in band of skin at tail, if present.

5. Place goose, breast-side up, on rack in large roasting pan. Insert meat thermometer deep into inside thigh muscle. Roast, uncovered, for 1 hour. Reduce temperature to 325'F. Continue roasting 2 to 2½ hours longer or until meat thermometer reaches 180'F.

6. During roasting, spoon off accumlated fat at 30-minute intervals.

Transfer goose to platter; remove skewer or string from legs, if used. Let goose stand 20 minutes for easier carving. Garnish platter with celery leaves and with celery cut to resemble roses, if desired.

Country Living Holidays/92 Scanned & fixed by Di Pahl & <gg>

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