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It's easy to see why some of us choose a goose to cook for Christmas dinner; there is no better smell than the scent of its rich meat roasting in the oven. The flavour of the meat is indulgent and quite extraordinary, there really is nothing that compares. Earthy, rounded, sweet and savoury all at once. The generosity of fat continues to give like a present tucked behind the Christmas tree, providing you with a magical ingredient for many roast potatoes to come.

Here, we've stuffed the goose with a delicious Prune, Chestnut & Sausage meat Stuffing, then once roasted we've incorporated all of the flavoursome cooking juices into a rich, silky gravy. A truly splendid festive feast.

Ingredients

For the Goose
1

Properly free range Whole Goose
2

Onions
4

Celery sticks
2

Carrots
A good pinch

Sea salt
A good pinch

Black pepper
For the Gravy
Drippings from the roasting pan
2-3 tablespoons

Plain flour
500ml

Pure chicken or turkey stock
125ml

Somerset Cider Brandy
1 tablespoon

Chutney
A pinch

Sea salt
A pinch

Black pepper

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Method

If you can, remove your goose from the fridge the night before. This allows the goose to arrive at room temperature. It also gives the skin time to dry off. If you want to create crispy skin with yielding meat, it is imperative the bird is dry.
Preheat your oven to 200C.
Take the goose and pierce the fattiest parts of the underside of the bird. You are aiming to pierce just the skin and fat, without puncturing the flesh. Give the parsons nose a thorough pierce, however, leave the breast intact.
Season the cavity and then fill generously, without overpacking, your choice of stuffing. Season the legs and breast with sea salt and a light twist of black pepper.
Place the bird on a rack, or create a trivet using root vegetables. To do this, cut carrots and celery into long, chunky slices and arrange to form a bed in your roasting pan. Place the goose on top. The rack - or vegetable trivet - is in place to allow the fat to render in the pan, without stewing the bird.
Place into the hot oven. Cook for 20 minutes at 200C to crisp the skin, then turn the temperature down to 180C and cook for approximately 20 minutes per kilo (remember to take the weight of the stuffing into account).
You should have to hand a sheet of tinfoil. If the skin starts to brown too much, lightly cover the goose with the foil, making sure you then remove the foil for the last ten minutes of cooking, to re-crisp the skin.
The best indication that your bird is cooked is when it’s easy to shake hands with it. Grab a tea towel or an oven glove and gently twist the drumstick to the side. As soon as it ‘gives’, this is the best indication the bird is cooked. You can also put a skewer into the thickest part of the thigh, the juices should run just slightly pink.   
Remove from the oven and allow to rest uncovered somewhere warm for around 30 minutes.
Whilst it's resting, prepare your gravy. Your goose will come with a pack of giblets. Discard the liver from the giblets and place everything into a saucepan along with a pouch of stock. Heat through until warm, then discard the giblets.
Remove the goose from the roasting pan and add the flour to the vegetables and pan juices to thicken it all up. Give it a good stir and mash using a fork or a potato masher, until nice and soft and gloopy. Add the warmed stock to the pan, along with the brandy, chutney and a good pinch of seasoning. Pour through a sieve and serve immediately.