Christmas goose with apples and prunes

A festive goose that will always be a welcome guest on your table

Ingredients

• goose, ready for cooking (gutted and plucked) 2.5-3 kg, chicken stock or water 300 ml, marjoram (optional) a pinch, vegetable oil (for greasing the poultry), salt, freshly ground pepper For the filling: apples ( preferably Antonovka) 3-5 pcs, prunes 100-150 g

Directions

1. Wash the goose, dry well and cut off excess fat.
2. Cut off the tips of the wings.
3. Tuck the skin around the neck and secure with a toothpick.
4. Rub the goose inside and out with marjoram, salt and freshly ground pepper.
5. Cover the bird with cling film and refrigerate overnight or for 10-12 hours.
6. Advice:
7. If the goose is not young, then the meat may be dryish. To avoid this, the goose can be pickled. The easiest and most inexpensive way is to coat the goose with mayonnaise and put it in the refrigerator for 10-12 hours or overnight.
8. You can coat the goose with a mixture of mustard (2 tablespoons) and honey (1 tablespoon). You can just use mustard.
9. And here is a more expensive and refined example of a marinade: scald 1 lemon with boiling water and cut into circles or semicircles. Rub the goose with salt and pepper, put in a sufficiently wide and deep container. Cover the goose with lemon circles and pour over a bottle of dry white wine. Cover the dish with cling film, put in the refrigerator and marinate for 10-12 hours.
10. Prepare the filling.
11. Wash the apples, core them with seeds, and cut into large wedges.
12. Wash and dry the prunes. You can cut the berries in half, or you can leave them whole.
13. Mix apples with prunes.
14. Fill the goose belly with apples and prunes (do not tamp).
15. Chop off the abdomen with toothpicks or sew up.
16. Coat the goose well with olive or vegetable oil.
17. In order to give the bird a compact shape, tie the wings and legs with a thick thread.
18. Put the cut ends of the wings on a baking sheet (it is advisable to use a deep baking sheet).
19. Lay the goose back down on the wings.
20. Chop the skin on the legs and breast with a toothpick - this is to melt excess fat during baking.
21. Pour hot broth or water into a baking sheet, cover the baking sheet with foil and place in an oven heated to 200 ° C for 30 minutes.
22. Then lower the temperature to 180 ° C and bake the goose for 2.5-3.5 hours, or longer, depending on the weight of the bird. Every 20-30 minutes, the skin on the legs and breast should be pierced and poured with melted fat on the goose.
23. 30-40 minutes before cooking, remove the foil, let the bird brown and come to full readiness.
24. Advice:
25. Tip 1. The roasting time is calculated as follows: for each kilogram of goose weight - 45 minutes + 30 minutes for the total weight of the bird.
26. Tip 2. It is very convenient to bake a goose instead of foil, in a bag or sleeve. The baking time, however, is slightly reduced. Towards the end of baking, you need to cut the bag, drain the fat, and bring the goose to readiness.
27. Tip 3. The goose is ready when, when piercing several, the thickest parts of the bird, and when pressing on them, a light, transparent juice is released.
28. Tip 4. A lot of fat will collect in the baking sheet - you can not pour it out, but strain it, and use it for frying potatoes.
29. Tip 5. The goose is usually cut as follows: 2 legs, 2 drumsticks, 2 forearms, cut and sliced ​​meat from two halves of the breast.
30. Remove the finished goose from the oven, drain the fat from the baking sheet, and let the bird stand for 20 minutes.
31. Spread the filling on a large platter, place the chopped goose on top, and serve.