Oh Gizzards.....

Gizzards.  I've never been a fan of them.

Partially I never knew how to cook them well and have them taste good.

I had goose gizzards on my hands....From working on goose this week.

I followed Hank Shaw's recipe w/ the exception that I used a sea salt, a quarter piece of yellow onion, shiitake mushrooms and I had a digital slow cooker...So I had put it on warm for a little over 8 hours (as that's approximately btw 150 - 200 degrees F)....

Would I try this recipe again?  Most definitely.

Recipe courtesy of Hank Shaw

GIZZARD CONFIT WITH WILD MUSHROOMS

You can use any gizzard here, too, from wild ducks and geese to chickens and turkeys. Stick to birds at least as large as a wild duck, however, as you want to be able to slice the cooked gizzards thin.

Serves 4-6 as an appetizer

Prep Time: 6 hours

Cook Time: 8 hours

• 8-10 duck gizzards, cleaned
• Salt
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme
• 4-6 tablespoons duck fat, olive oil or lard
• 1 1/2 pounds fresh chanterelle, hedgehog or other mushrooms (I had used shiitake)
• 3 large shallots, chopped fine (used a section of orange onion)
• 2-3 garlic cloves, sliced thin
• Fresh thyme for garnish
• Juice of 1/2 lemon or a splash of verjus
• Black pepper

A day before you want to serve this dish, mix about 1/4 cup of salt with the dried thyme and toss in the cleaned gizzards to coat well. Put the salted gizzards in a container in the fridge overnight, or at least 6 hours.

The next day, rinse off the gizzards and dry with paper towels. Get a large pot of water hot – you want it steaming, not simmering.

Put the gizzards into a vacuum seal bag in one layer, and pack in the duck fat or lard. You can use olive oil here, but it is harder to work with because it’s liquid. Seal the bag tight with the vacuum sealer; you won’t be able to do this if you are using olive oil, so get as much air out as you can. If you don’t have a vacuum sealer, you can approximate this with a Ziploc bag – push all the air out of the bag first.

Submerge the bag in the hot water. Shoot for a temperature of about 160 degrees. Once the water is about this hot, it is easy to maintain that temperature over a very low heat. Cook this way for at least 4 hours, and 8 hours is better.

To make the dish, get a very large frying pan hot over high heat. Add in the mushrooms and shake the pan to cook. Keep the pan moving until you see the mushrooms give up their water. Sprinkle them with salt. Toss from time to time until all the water is gone.

Add some of the fat from the gizzard bag and the shallots and toss to combine. Keep cooking over high heat until you just start to see the shallots brown. Add the garlic and the fresh thyme, and cook for another 2 minutes, tossing often.

To serve, slice the gizzards very thin and add to the mushrooms. Add the verjus or lemon juice and toss to combine and serve at once with black pepper over the top.

Edamame Mash

I've had Edamame before.  I like Edamame.  I always have.  I've just never had an Edamame mash before.

I've seen recipes for it.  Been curious.  Seen many different versions of it.  So I figured since I made Goose.

I'd make use of the flavor laced fat I had received from baking the shred goose the second time around.

The containers say "Goose Fat + 5 Spice + Sage" and the second says "Goose Stock"....Yes, I'm aware my handwriting is like chicken scratch.....

I boiled the Edamame for approx 10 minutes while skinning 3 red potatoes.  Once the Edamame was boiled, I put them in the food processor....While adding a some goose fat and stock to the mix.....Once that was mixed to desired consistency...Oh and I had the potatoes cut and boiling at this time as well...

I put the Edamame mash (part 1) into another bowl and put the red potatoes into the food processor as I slowly drizzled heavy whipping cream into the mix....

After awhile I reverted back to my still warm stock pot and used an old fashioned potato masher

I mashed and mixed away.

And this was the result.

I think it could use more Edamame....  But I also think the flavor laced goose fat and stock slightly over powered the Edamame mash.

However.  The following day I had the goose and the Edamame mash together. 

Yummy. 

Goose

I've always wanted to cook goose.  Never found a recipe that stood out to me.  Lo' and behold I found a recipe in Jamie Oliver's Magazine - the Christmas edition.  While I've cooked duck, I've been been exceedingly curious about goose.

I learned that goose is NOT like Turkey and that it is, indeed a fatty bird.  Much like duck - tho' it was not duck either.  I also had learned that when it was cooked wrong it would taste 'livery'....Which, well in my first experience (so far)...It hasn't.

What I did in preparing for this bird, was to dry brine it in the fridge...Which was, according to the recipe was cover the duck in salt and 5 spice, both inside and outside of the bird.  Cover the bird and leave it in the fridge over night.....And this, indeed, create a nice crispy skin once the bird was cooked....I also had punctured the skin above the breast as that was where the fat would slowly melt out.

I then cooked the bird for 350 for 4 hours.  The skin was crispy, and delicious.  The meat...For the most part, fell away easily.

While underneath the pan...There was a slew of fat swirling an swishing in the bottom container...Something I had not expected.  I pulled apart the meat and put it into two loaf pans.  Covered it with fresh Sage Leaves and then covered it with the fat laden 5 spice, orange drizzled fat and pressed down.  I then covered it and put it into the fridge.

The next day, I cooked it for 300 for approximately 20 minutes.  This was the results.  The 5 spice melded into the meat and the skin was extremely crispy.  The goose, indeed had confit.

Delicious.  With the rest I turned into stock.  I put all the bones, and covered it with water.....Lo' and behold this beloved goose had created 

Not 1.

But 5 containers of stock.  

Thank you goose.  I will eat you for many a day and enjoy every minute of it.  

Jamie Oliver’s Day Ahead Goose

Serves 8

1 Goose, Approx 5.5 KG (12 lbs 2 ounces)

5 Spice Powder

Sea Salt

3 Clementines (I used 1 blood orange)

2 thumb sizes pieces of ginger

4 sprigs of Rosemary (2 tsp dried Rosemary)

Olive Oil

Sage Leaves

1.        Rub a few good pinches of 5 spice and sea salt flakes all over the goose inside and out, leave covered in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.  Gives crisp skin

2.       Preheat oven 350 degrees F.  Halve 2 Clementines put in goose.  Finely grate ginger onto a board and pick the leaves from rosemary.  Drizzle and toss with olive oil then put inside the goose.  Rub in well.  Wrap legs in tin foil to keep from burning.  Prick the fatty lump above the goose’s cavity with a sharp knife to help the fat melt out.

3.       Breast side  up, onto the bars o the middle shelf of the oven and place a wide roasting tray below the bird to catch the fat.  Roast 3 – 4 hours….Skin crisp, meat tender.  Once goose cooked, moved it to board, and cover with foil.  Leave it to rest for 1 hour.  Turn oven off but leave tray of fat.  Shred meat with fork. 

4.       Take out the tray of fat and squeeze the juice of the remaining Clementine into it.  Rub a Clementine half all over the bottom of the tray to loosen the goods.  Carefully strain the fat through a sieve into the dish of meat.  Toos the fat and goose then scatter over a few sage leaves and press them down until covered.  Cover and put in fridge till next day.

5.       Half an hour before serving, put in oven 300 degrees F for 20-25 minutes.  Drain excess fat and serve w/ crispy sage leaves.