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Recipe courtesy of Tony Smith, Executive Chef at Canterbury Tales, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Christchurch. Serves 4.Goose
Two goose breasts.
The easiest way to serve wild goose is to cook the breast whole and carve into thin slices. One breast serves two generous portions and this can be stretched to four if other accompanying vegetables are served. Keep your goose breasts in the refrigerator, seasoned with a little black pepper, a drizzle of olive oil and a few chopped garden herbs.
In the meantime prepare the celeriac purée and roasted pears, both of which are at their very best in quality during the game bird season. Both the celeriac and pears can be prepared ahead of time and the dish put together as required.
Celeriac Purée
1 large firm celeriac (900g to 1 kg)
1 medium sized potato (200g)
1 litre milk
1 garlic clove
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon salt
20g butter and white pepper
Peel the celeriac and potato and cut them into 2 cm pieces. Place in a saucepan, add the milk, bay leaf, garlic and salt, cover and bring to the boil, simmer gently for around 25 minutes or until the vegetables are soft. Puree, either by passing through a mouli, or because celeriac does not have the same starch content as potatoes it can be blended in a food processor or hand held stick blender. When ready to serve adjust seasoning with a knob of butter and a pinch of white ground pepper.
The Pears
2 pears
a little olive oil
Pre-heat your oven to 200ºc. Cut each pear into half and remove the cores, do not peel. Cut each half into four pieces, place in a roasting dish, rub over a little oil and place in oven for 10 minutes, check and turn them, they will have taken on a little colour. If they are tender remove and cool, place them in a small container until required.
The Fennel
It is possible to find wild fennel seeds in autumn and winter, try collecting a little on a walk up a river bed. In this dish we use the fennel as a spice like freshly ground black pepper; place the seeds in a pan and a heat until fragrant, crush with a mortar and pestle.
To Cook and Serve
Preheat your oven to 180º, place a frying pan on a high heat and place the goose breasts in, sear on both sides and place in the oven, cook for five to six minutes, take out and rest for 10 minutes. While resting the meat, heat the celeriac and warm the pears.
Remove the goose breasts from the pan, to make a little pan gravy, add a little water (or wine) to deglaze and mix in just a teaspoon of good quality gravy stock powder.
Place a good spoonful of celeriac onto four plates, carve the goose breast into very thin slices and arrange on the plate, place the roasted pear equally around, spoon on the pan sauce and sprinkle on the ground fennel
