The goose should be absolutely young. Green geese are best, _i. e._,
when they are about four months old. In trussing, cut the neck close to
the back, leaving the skin long enough to turn over the back; beat the
breast-bone flat with the rolling-pin; tie or skewer the legs and wings
securely. Stuff the goose with the following mixture: Four large onions
(chopped), ten sage leaves, quarter of a pound of bread-crumbs, one and
a half ounces of butter, salt and pepper, one egg, a slice of pork
(chopped). Now sprinkle the top of the goose well with salt, pepper, and
flour. Reserve the giblets to boil and chop for the gravy, as you would
for a turkey. Baste the goose repeatedly. If it is a green one, roast it
at least an hour and a half; if an older one, it would be preferable to
bake it in an oven, with plenty of hot water in the baking-pan. It
should be basted very often with this water, and when it is nearly done
baste it with butter and a little flour. Bake it three or four hours.
Decorate the goose with water-cresses, and serve it with the brown
giblet gravy in the sauce-boat. Always serve an apple-sauce with this
dish.
GOOSE STUFFING (_Soyer’s Receipt_).
Take four apples peeled and cored, four onions, four leaves of sage, and
four of thyme. Boil them with sufficient water to cover them; when done,
pulp them through a sieve, removing the sage and thyme; then add enough
pulp of mealy potatoes to cause the stuffing to be sufficiently dry,
without sticking to the hand. Add pepper and salt, and stuff the bird.