CHRISTMAS FARE

Dominion, Volume 25, Issue 69, 15 December 1931, Page 22 (Supplement)

CHRISTMAS FARE

| First Comes the Goose, - Rich and Savoury—Fit s for a Feast, Christmas will soon 'be here again, so we must begin to think about our j Christmas fare. This alters little from year to year, but a fresh touch here ; and 'there will give it new life. 1 The Christinas Goose. [ (With Apple Rings and Apple Sauce.) , Ingredients: z , 1 goose, lib. onions. About 2 dozen sage leaves. 2 oz. butter or margarine. 4 oz. breadcrumbs. Pepper and salt. Egg. To make the stuffing, peel and grate the onions and mix them with the breadcrumbs. Rub the sage leaves to a powder and add them to the breadcrumbs with seasoning to taste. Stir in the (melted) butter and moisten the stuffing with egg as required. Have the goose trussed, and stuff it with the prepared stuffing, putting this in at the tail end. Place the goose in a baking tin with J dripping, cover the breast with a thick- 5 ly greased paper. Bake the goose till 1 tender and nicely browned, keeping it well basted—a ten-pound goose will take about two to two and a quarter

hours to cook. Serve with thickened brown gravy, using stock made from the giblets for the foundation, and garnish the dish with fried apple rings.

To prepare the apple rings, choose good sized cooking apples, peel and core them .and slice them thickly. Fry them in hot fat (using some of the fat from the goose), turning them over when brown. These rings may be served Instead of, or in addition to, apple sauce, as may be preferred. For the apple sauce, use sharp apples such as Wellingtons—peel, quarter and core them, slice them and cook them till tender, adding sugar to taste and a little water as required. Rub the apple through a sieve, return it to the pan with a walnut of butter, and re-heat. It is an old custom in some counties to precede the goose with a steamed batter pudding. This is served with very thick brown gravy, made by stirring a flour and .water paste 'into the fat and sediment "in the baking tin, after pouring off some of the fat. But remember to leave more fat in the tin than when making tiie usual thick gravy. Some stock is then added, and seasoning to taste. It is then boiled for a few minutes to cook the flour, and a little browing added. This gravy should not be strained when finished, so it is important to strain the stock (if necessary) before adding it. Some prefer to serve the batter pudding the following day, to precede the left-over goose. j . . _ .. 1

'' Hie Batter. Ingredients: } lb. flour. A pinch of salt. 2 eggs. i pint of'milk. Sieve the flour and salt into a basin, make a well in the centre and pour in the eggs. Mix these with some of the flour, then take two-thirds of the milk and add gradually and mix to a smooth batter. Beat well, then stir in the remainder ’of the milk and leave the batter to stand for an hour or so before steaming for two hours.