I’ve just come back from a fantastic holiday in Saalbach, Austria, where I spent a week skiing, eating, drinking and wrapping up against the bitter cold. I have lots to tell you about what I did and what I ate but for now let me show you some pictures of the beautiful alpine scenery.
OK, so after all that excessive eating and drinking over Christmas who's in need of a detox? Well this month's bag contains just the thing:
Carrots
Celery
Beetroot
Let's get detoxing!
Rules
Here are the loose rules - but ultimately remember the objective is to have fun whilst highlighting seasonal food:
1. Participants should attempt to use all the ingredients 'in the bag' for that particular month, but may leave one out if they prefer. The dish should be based around the seasonal ingredient, with it acting as a central ingredient.
2. Participants can include any "extra" ingredients that they see fit.
3. Entries should include a link back to the host for that month, and the post should be tagged "In the Bag".
4. Entries can be written any time during the month, as long as the URL is emailed to that month's host before the closing date.
5. Particpants from outside of the UK are most welcome to join in and substitute an item from their own local seasonal produce if necessary.
'In The Bag' is a food event run monthly by 'A Slice of Cherry Pie' and 'Real Epicurean'.
On New Year’s Day I finally fulfilled a long-held culinary desire: to roast a goose over the festive period. Every year when I watch ‘A Christmas Carol’ or read another wonderful sounding recipe for goose I think I’d love to cook one, but I just can’t bring myself to discard the turkey which I’ve eaten every year for Christmas lunch my whole life. But this year I thought I’d push the boat out and order not only a turkey from my butcher but a goose as well, for New Year’s Day – how decadent!
Rob and I invited the family for the feast but then I became concerned that there wouldn’t actually be enough goose to feed all 8 and a half of us as, although geese are large, they have large cavities and not a great amount of meat comparatively. Also I wasn’t sure what size we would get as the butcher could only give us a rough estimate. To guard against this I decided to also cook a chicken, which would also give the added benefit of me being able to offer an alternative if anyone didn’t like the goose.
Well I certainly needn’t have worried about the size of the goose – it was a very healthy 6kg – or anyone disliking it, but I am glad I cooked the chicken to bump up the meat offering as there was only just enough goose meat to go round. I thought they went rather well together actually, with the white, lighter chicken contrasting nicely against the dark, richer goose meat.
When it came to cooking the goose I pricked it all over to help the delicious fat escape and seasoned it well with salt and pepper. I decided to give it a hot blast for 30 minutes and then cooked it at a lower, but still hot, temperature for another 2 and a half hours and I was really pleased with how it came out. I served it with two stuffings – cranberry and sausage, and sausage, sage and onion – carrots, savoy cabbage and, of course, lots and lots of roast potatoes cooked in all that lovely goose fat which I regularly ladled out of the tray the goose was roasting in. You wouldn’t believe the amount that came out, but I’m not complaining; I still have lots in the fridge destined for more potatoes.
The goose was a real winner; everyone liked it. I thought it tasted a bit like a cross between duck and turkey. It was rich but not overpoweringly so, gamey but not too strong and moist but not fatty. I really enjoyed it and it certainly was festive when I brought it out in all its glory. I’m looking forward to cooking one again over the next Christmas period.
Well the champagne has been popped, the glasses have been raised and here we are in 2009! I'm feeling very optimistic about this new year - 2008 was a generally a very good year for me and I hope that 2009 will be even better. But before I start looking forward I thought I'd take one last glance over my shoulder at the year that was, culinary speaking. So here is 'A Slice of Cherry Pie' 2008, in pictures (click on each photograph to view the associated blog post).
Wishing you all a very happy new year!
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November 
December
The blog has moved!!! Please visit my blog at the new address www.asliceofcherrypie.com and don't forget to update your bookmarks and links! See you over there x
