Chesapeake Cassoulet
In 2014, my father’s fellow sportsman and bon vivant Todd Wright wrote a book, in part, to document their annual hunting trip to Saskatchewan, Prairie Birds: Hunt, Cook, Celebrate. Inside, he recounte...
My father, Scott Livie, always liked to keep it simple when it came to preparing goose. Occasionally he would smoke it, but our go-to meal was rare, grilled goose breast, served with wild rice and a green salad. It’s been a joke in our family that there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t liberally douse in Newman’s Own original dressing—goose included, in this case, as a marinade. In a nod to dad’s original recipe, this one does include a pre-grill brine for flavor and tenderness, but lets the rich fattiness of wild goose shine.
Ingredients
SERVINGS: 4 Serving(s)
- 2 Canada goose breasts, approximately 12 ounces each
- 1 gallon cold water
- ½ cup non-iodized salt
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 10 ounces ginger
- ½ cup black pepper corns
- 5 bay leaves
- ½ large bulb of garlic, cloves peeled and smashed
Preparation
Fill a large pot or container with gallon of cold water and stir in salt and sugar until completely dissolved. Add ginger, black peppercorns, bay leaves, and garlic. Stir. Let goose soak in brine in refrigerator for approximately 24 hours.
Thoroughly rinse brine from goose, making certain to remove any ingredients stuck to meat. Heat barbecue grill until coals are red and flaming or propane is set to medium heat. DO NOT add any salt or pepper to breast cuts.
Place on grill, cover grill and rotate 90 degrees once underside receives grill markings. Flip when second set of sear marks appear, and repeat on other side. Cook to an internal temperature of 130°F (medium rare). Cover with aluminum foil and let juices redistribute before carving and serving.
Related Stories & Recipes
Friendship, Communion, Food: Waterfowl at the Chesapeake Winter Table
In this essay, Kate Livie remembers winters on the Eastern Shore with her father, and the waterfowl that connected them.
