1 goose (about 8 pounds)

Potato stuffing

Salt pork if goose is not fat

Salt and pepper Flour

Select a goose that is about four months old. An old goose is better braised than roasted. Singe the goose, wash it carefully in hot water, and wipe it dry on the outside; then draw it and clean it thoroughly inside. Flatten the breast-bone by striking it with a rolling-pin. Partly fill the cavity with potato stuffing, stitch up the openings and truss the goose. If it is not fat, lay thin slices of pork upon the breast, but if the goose has considerable fat, omit the pork. Bake in a hot oven (500° F.) for forty-five minutes. Remove it from the oven, pour out all the fat, sprinkle the bird all over with salt and pepper, dredge with flour, and return it to the oven. Reduce the heat but do not let it get below 3 50° F.

When the flour is a good brown, pour one cup of hot water into the pan and baste the goose often, dredging it each time with a slight sifting of flour to absorb the fat. Allow twenty minutes to the pound for a young goose and twenty-five for one that is old. Remove the goose from the pan, add a cup of hot water to the gravy and thicken it, if necessary, with browned flour. Garnish the goose with parsley and serve with giblet gravy.

Apple sauce is often served with roast goose.

Goslings may be roasted in the same way, allowing, however, only fifteen minutes to the pound for cooking.