Crisp whole St. Martin’s roast goose: meat slips off the bone, fat for lokše

Tip: tap a step to mark it as done.

1. Prepare and dry the goose

   15 min

   Take the goose out of the refrigerator ahead of time so it is not ice-cold. Trim large pieces of fat from the cavity opening and around the neck (you can render these for goose fat), and cut off the wing tips. Do not wash the goose; pat it thoroughly dry inside and out with paper towels.

   Prick the skin on the legs, under the wings, and along the sides at an angle with a needle or the tip of a knife, without piercing the meat. The fat will drain through these holes as the goose roasts.

2. Season and stuff with apples

   10 min

   Mix the salt with the crushed caraway seeds and ground black pepper, then rub the mixture all over the goose, inside and out. Quarter the apples and onion, remove the apple cores, and place everything inside the cavity.

3. Roast covered at 160 °C (325 °F)

   3 hr

   Place the goose breast-side down in a roasting pan, add 300 ml water, cover with a lid or aluminum foil, and roast in an oven preheated to 160 °C (325 °F) for 1½ hours. Turn it breast-side up, baste with the pan juices, and roast covered for another 1½ hours.

   About every 40 minutes, baste the goose with the pan juices and ladle the fat that collects on top into a cup. If the water evaporates, add a little hot water. The meat is done when the leg moves easily at the joint.

4. Finish uncovered until crisp

   35 min

   Remove the lid, increase the oven temperature to 200 °C (400 °F), and roast the goose uncovered for 30–40 minutes, until the skin is browned and crisp. Brush it once or twice with fat from the roasting pan during this time.

5. Rest and carve

   15 min

   Let the roasted goose rest on a cutting board for 15 minutes to allow the juices to settle. Remove the apples and onion, carve the goose into legs, breasts, and wings, and serve with lokše and braised red or white cabbage. Spread the fat collected in the cup on the lokše, and store the remaining fat in a jar in the refrigerator.

Tip: Rub the goose with salt and caraway the evening before and refrigerate it uncovered overnight so the skin dries out and crisps up better in the oven.

This recipe was translated from the Slovak original: Chrumkavá celá pečená hus na Martina: mäso pustí od kosti a masť z pekáča natriete na lokše