Goose Soup!

You all know that I love making soup. And a Christmas goose makes an excellent soup. Be sure to collect all the rendered fat from cooking the goose. It is nicely flavored and an excellent saturated cooking fat. It almost made me want to start buying the occasional fowl at our Farmers' Market. (The Christmas bird was pre-ordered from a local Oregon game farm that specializes in humanely raised and slaughtered organic meat.)

As always, begin with the stock. Include all the bones and giblets from the bird, as well as any stale aromatic vegetables (celery, carrots, onion, leeks), and a dried bay leaf and some pepper corns. Cover with water, bring to a boil, and let simmer a few hours.


Meanwhile, prepare ingredients for a white mirepoix: parsnips, celery, and leeks. Saute these in goose fat, with a little salt to encourage the aromatics to release their liquids. Then add halved crimini mushrooms. Once the mushrooms start to wilt and release their juices, cover with stock. Add some reserved cooked goose meat, adjust the salt, and bring to a boil briefly before serving.




The soup is delicious, but a bit sweet on account of the parsnips. Serve with a hearty bread: a crust whole-wheat-and-walnut pairs well. This soup pairs with almost any wine that's not too delicate or citrus-y; your standard Friday-night Chardonnay or Pinot Noir would make particularly good choices.