Alternate Christmas Poultry for a newbie?

[agray]

My wife is tired of turkey and has requested something different this Christmas, but still avian if possible (we did a whole salmon the last time we were tired of turkey but it didn't really feel seasonal). We've discussed duck and goose but have cooked neither before as whole creatures (reheating duck confit doesn't count...).

I'm not an amateur in the kitchen, but let's say I'm still gathering my experience. What would be a good bird choice for someone like me to make for a holiday dinner? There will be 6 meat-eaters present.

[rlibkind]

Capon would be my first choice, especially if you want to bring to the table a big, whole, impressive bird.

They usually weigh-in at about 8-12 pounds, so serving six will be no problem. If your crowd likes white meat, it's the way to go: these castrated roosters are breast-heavy, so they have a higher proportion of white meat, yet they remain considerably more juicy. Roast it like you would chicken.

Note that there are two methods for creating a capon from a rooster: with chemicals or the knife. Check with your butcher. If you're located in the Mid-Atlantic, Eberly, a producer from Amish-Mennonite country about halfway between Reading and Lancaster, produces a great all-natural (though not pastured), surgically-altered bird, but in any larger metropolitan area you should be able to find surgical birds which, on gee-pees, I prefer to chemically neutered specimens.

If you don't want to mess with a whole duck with all the fat (and to feed six you'd need three Peking, a.k.a. Long Island, ducklings) consider boneless duck breasts. It's both elegant and easy to cook (just sauté) and you can sauce them as you'd like (fruit sauces, green peppercorn, lots of others work). To serve and impress, slice into fans before plating: one cutlet per person works when you've got adequate accompaniments. (Winter veggies are ideal with duck: turnips or brussels sprouts in mustard sauce, oven-roasted root veggies, etc.).

Whole duck and goose take a bit more work to deal with the fat, and I find pheasant and similar domesticated game birds usually lacking, and you have to be careful to prevent many from drying out.

Although it's a highly industrialized bird, rock cornish game hens (which are really nothing more than exceedingly young chickens) can be impressive when served, since each diner gets a whole bird.

[mkayahara]

Given the choice between goose and duck, I'd definitely go with duck. I've roasted many a duck, but only one goose - and the goose fat was definitely more problematic to deal with. Of course, many would consider goose to be more seasonal. Of course, as rlibkind said, you'll need several ducks to feed 6: two or three depending on appetite sizes.

[Jaymes]

Went to a Christmas dinner a while back for which the host had prepared individually-stuffed Rock Cornish Game Hens. Made a pretty impressive display on a large platter surrounded with baked apples and pears and an orange sauce.

And it was delicious.

But tricky to eat.

So all in all, I don't know if I'm actually recommending it...

__________________

Edited November 28, 2009 by Jaymes (log)

[Katie Meadow]

If you aren't looking for razzle dazzle presentation, here's something completely different. Our xmas day tradition (if we're cooking) is Coq au Vin. It's labor intensive but not stressful in any way, has lots of ingredients, is delicious, not often encountered, AND all the work can be done hours ahead. If you don't cut corners and do it up right, it's pretty special. You can dress it up with some French hors d., cheeses, have a great salad course, finish with a home made tarte tatin. Nice change from roasted anything and doesn't break the bank.

[tim]

Hi,

Game hens can be dressed up by removing the bones and stuffing the birds with a light stuffing. This aways surprises guests who assume they will be carving meat from the bones and discover a boneless bird.

Yes, the bones may be removed without cutting any of the skin, but today's larger game hens serve two people. It is much easier to cut the birds in half to remove bones except the wings and drum stick. You may then roast them over a stuffing that makes it appear like a halved game hen.

Very elegant and wonderful flavors.

Tim

[velveeta]

I know this is not a poultry product, but have you given some thought to a beautiful bone in ham? The kind that is smoked by a locally owned butcher shop, not a bargain grocery store product. Not only a wonderful dinner but so much opportunity for that big bone and leftover meat!

[KatieLoeb]

I've made a whole roast goose several times and found it no more or less daunting than roasting a duck. They're both rather greasy birds, and there will be loads of fat in the bottom of the pan when you're done regardless of which bird you choose. 6 of one, half a dozen of the other. :shrug:

That being said, I've had good luck gently separating the skin from the meat (think Peking duck) and then pricking small holes throughout with a carving fork to allow the fat to drain out as it cooks. Definitely up on a rack above some water so no danger of an oven fire. If you want to save the fat later (yes - you do) you can strain it through a gold coffee filter and then put it in the freezer. The fat will congeal on top and the water will freeze on the bottom.

There's really nothing better than a traditional Bavarian meal of roast goose with braised red cabbage, apples and caraway seeds on the side. It's not something you'll try anywhere but in someone's home, so that makes it a more interesting meal than something that would be served in a restaurant. JMO of course...

[agray]

Hmmm, all very interesting! Thanks for the thoughts so far. Roast goose has a sort of romantic allure to it (at least to people who've read lots of European Christmas stories in their youth). I've never actually had it, though. That said, I haven't had a good Coq a Vin for a while either, and if done right, it's awfully good... Thanks for that suggestion Katie.

There are some interesting small farms around here on Vancouver Island, and I know I can get duck. There's also a good butcher in town I just called, who can get in fresh duck and goose from Victoria/Cowichan Valley, so I do have options.

A nice ham is not a bad idea - maybe we'll do that for Easter. Right now, we do have fowl on the mind.

[Jaymes]

Hi,

Game hens can be dressed up by removing the bones and stuffing the birds with a light stuffing. This aways surprises guests who assume they will be carving meat from the bones and discover a boneless bird.

Yes, the bones may be removed without cutting any of the skin, but today's larger game hens serve two people. It is much easier to cut the birds in half to remove bones except the wings and drum stick. You may then roast them over a stuffing that makes it appear like a halved game hen.

Very elegant and wonderful flavors.

Tim

That's a great idea. I might try this myself this year.

Thanks.

[prasantrin]

How would you feel about doing a variation of roast chicken, like the Filipino rellenong manok? You can change the flavourings of the meat stuffing to suit your tastes. My mother has often made this for parties (it's one of the few Filipino dishes she can make), and it never fails to impress in terms of looks or flavours.

Because of all the meat, you could probably get away with just doing one chicken, but I'd probably do two or one chicken and some other meat dish (like a smaller standing rib roast or rack of lamb).

[David A. Goldfarb]

I siphon off the goose fat as it cooks, leaving some in the pan for basting. Truth be told, I roast a goose occasionally mainly to have a supply of goose fat and consider the goose itself kind of a bonus.

[OliverB]

how about getting different smaller game birds and roasting them all together? Game hens, pheasant, others like that can be found at Asian markets. If they differ in size you have to play with cooking times, or cut some up, but it makes for a great dish with many different tastes. Or just a couple small game hens, I usually find them in a size that's just perfect for one person. Make one for each guest, roast them all in the same pan. No stuffing or stuffing separate. At least I'm not a fan of inside the bird stuffing anymore. You can server each person a small bird with what ever you decide to make along.

[judiu]

How would you feel about doing a variation of roast chicken, like the Filipino rellenong manok? You can change the flavourings of the meat stuffing to suit your tastes. My mother has often made this for parties (it's one of the few Filipino dishes she can make), and it never fails to impress in terms of looks or flavours.

Because of all the meat, you could probably get away with just doing one chicken, but I'd probably do two or one chicken and some other meat dish (like a smaller standing rib roast or rack of lamb).

'Onion leaves'? Scallions, or chives? The green bits in the picture look fairly large, so I'm guessing scallions, right?

[Kim WB]

If yu have a double oven, pheasant is a nice choice...wrap the breat in acon, make a golden raisin/white wine sauce...it is such a delicate bird, and it seems festive to me...wonderful with champagne.

[prasantrin]

How would you feel about doing a variation of roast chicken, like the Filipino rellenong manok? You can change the flavourings of the meat stuffing to suit your tastes. My mother has often made this for parties (it's one of the few Filipino dishes she can make), and it never fails to impress in terms of looks or flavours.

Because of all the meat, you could probably get away with just doing one chicken, but I'd probably do two or one chicken and some other meat dish (like a smaller standing rib roast or rack of lamb).

'Onion leaves'? Scallions, or chives? The green bits in the picture look fairly large, so I'm guessing scallions, right?

Green onions/scallions, most likely.

Everyone's recipe for the filling is different. My mother would never use stuff like green relish in hers, nor the vienna sausage or hot dogs some I've seen in some recipes.

[Paul Stanley]

I'd say a lot depends on how many people you expect to feed.

A duck, even a large one, can't really be stretched to more than 4 people, whereas a goose will easily do 8 (not just because it is larger than a duck, but because the meat is even richer than duck is, so less goes further. With tons of side dishes (dressing, vegetables etc) you might just about get your duck to feed 6 and a large goose to feed 10. But in both cases remember that there is a lot of fat, and relatively little meat.

I'm a huge supporter of goose, which is what we usually have. It's unusual. It's delicious. It's traditional. It's not especially hard to get right. And it loves just the sort of side dishes (braised red cabbage, apples, crisp roast potatoes) that make christmas christmassy.

[et alors]

I personally prefer Duck to goose. We've done it a lot of ways, the best easily being separating the breast, and searing it rare, and confiting the legs-- Duck two ways, which is a lot of work, yet it is both delicious and impressive. Roasting the whole bird tends to be difficult to get right. I highly recommend Jachque Pepin Celebrates for a very good braised duck recipe, plus many other impressive dishes.

Finally the most impressive and christmasy non-turkey thing I've ever had was a crown roast. When that puppy comes to the table, you have no doubt something special is occurring. It just screams dickensian christmas.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Crown-Roast-of-Pork-with-Onion-and-Bread-Crumb-Stuffing-233258

[agray]

Excellent suggestions, all!

That rellenong manok is very interesting looking indeed - I'd never seen it before. However, I'm leaning heavily towards the goose. I found out I can get fresh local goose, and looking at cooking instructions it seems pretty straightforward (there's a great thread here from 2002) for me. Other game birds are looking a little hard to find here.

And goose fat intrigues me - one of my plans for the coming year is to explore fat a little more: render my own lard, roast potatoes in duck or goose fat, etc.

[OliverB]

for duck, I might mention: we made one last year, it cost an incredible amount of money and it barely fed the 4 of us. That's two adults, a then 5 and 1 1/2 year old. Now, the bird was pretty big from the looks, but there was not all that much meat on it and we finished the whole bird. This might have been just an odd bird, but you might want to keep that in mind if you intend to feed more than 3 adults. I don't recall how much I spent on the bird, somewhere between $40 and $60. Not worth it IMO.

[heidih]

If you are leaning towards goose I would encourage you. As mentioned earlier, getting the excess fat out as you go along makes for a less messy situation and your fat will stay cleaner which is good since you are saving it. My personal taste note is that goose is less game like than duck in case you have hesitant eaters. I feel like goose is more like just really nice dark poultry. Let us know how it goes.

[rlibkind]

Re: servings from duck.

OliverB, your experience was not a aberration: a Long Island (Peking) duck will only serve two diners. You'd get four to six from a Muscovy duck (which is an entirely different animal, really).

[David A. Goldfarb]

I agree. A Pekin duck is good for about two and a half people.

Duck fat can be used in similar ways to goose fat, by the way. It may not have quite as high a smoke point as goose fat, but the flavor is somewhat richer, which you may or may not want. Potatoes and root vegetables roasted in duck fat are really good. If you roast a duck or a goose, you can just put the veggies in the roasting pan under the bird about an hour before it's done, mixing them up occasionally for more browning. A large heavy roasting pan with plenty of space helps.

[OliverB]

I was really surprised how little meat was on that bird. Was enough for us since the kids are little, but I'm sure glad I did not make this for 4 adults

It was good though!

[tim]

Re: servings from duck.

OliverB, your experience was not a aberration: a Long Island (Peking) duck will only serve two diners.

Hi,

The only way to serve four from a pekin is by deconstructing and serving a multi-course duck tasting dinner. This would begin with duck liver mousse, duck soup from the carcass, sliced duck breast/gastric, leg/thigh confit, potatoes sauteed in duck fat, and duck cracklins on a salad.

It is wonderful but really takes time.

Tim