The Perfect Goose Steak

Presented by Dive Bomb Industries

I recently had a couple of friends come visit me up in North Central North Dakota for some duck and goose hunting. One of those buddies was Andrew Gardner. Andrew is one of my best friends and he and I have some pretty solid hunting history together. He is a world-class hunter and above all a true sportsman from start to finish. The guy can cook up wild critters like nobody I know. So after we stacked up a wall of honkers, mallards, partridge, and pheasant here in the prairies, I challenged him to do something many people say can’t be done: cook a mouth-watering, seconds requested, goose breast steak dish. And, believe it or not, he did just that. He used simple flavor profiles and the very straight forward but very very important method of dry and wet aging. Check out his recipe for the Perfect Goose Steak below, and give it a shot for yourself! - Corey Mulhair at Split Reed

Andrew with a couple of Greater Canada Geese on a mixed Mallard/Honker hunt in October 2020

Yes, goose breasts are delicious and severely underappreciated. Using this method you, and anyone else with a meat thermometer can make a goose breast worthy of Christmas dinner (or even a 3rd date, when you’re trying to seal the deal).

This recipe takes little effort and requires no special ingredients or cooking methods. It relies on a basic understanding of how to treat your meat and bring out the best it has to offer.

Ingredients:

1 Goose Breast (we used large Canada goose breasts, but specks or snows will work as well)
Coarse salt
Fresh cracked pepper
A few garlic cloves (3-5, depending on size)
Shallot (optional)
Fresh herbs: rosemary, sage, oregano, thyme. This is somewhat personal preference/whatever you have available.
¼ cup butter (preferably unsalted but no one really cares)
Olive oil

Step One: Aging

THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE ENTIRE RECIPE. DO NOT SKIP.

I age all my waterfowl, except for spoonies. Those get turned into cheesy chorizo jalapeno sausages. Stay tuned for that recipe to follow.

Ideally, you’d dry age a goose breast for 4-5 days then vac seal it and wet age for another 10 days. You can probably extend the wet age, but I would tend to limit the dry age to no more than 5 days because it’ll develop a rind which you’ll have to trim.
To dry age, grab a wire rack, put the goose breast on the rack, and leave it there for 4-5 days, flipping it every couple of days. If you don’t have a wire rack you can age it on a plate- just leave it uncovered and flip it twice a day (morning and evening).
Once the dry age is complete, vacuum-seal the goose breast (or tightly wrap with a few layers of plastic wrap) and put it back in the fridge for 10 days. At this point, you can either freeze it or pull it out of the package to cook.

NOTE: you must age the meat before it goes into the freezer. Freezing kills the enzymes required for the aging process to occur!

Step Two: Season

Rub the meat lightly with olive oil so the seasoning sticks and give it a liberal coating of salt and pepper. Season at least 30 minutes before the cooking begins to allow the salt to penetrate the meat.

Step Three: Warm it up

Nice and slow here. We’re going to be using the reverse sear method to achieve a perfect medium-rare all the way through.

Ideally, you have a pellet grill, smoker, green egg, classic Webber kettle, or anything that allows control over the temperature and adds some smoke to the cooking process. If you don’t, it’s not the end of the world, an oven works too. Or you can get fancy and use a sous vide device (if so add 5 degrees to the finish temp in the next paragraph).

Set yourself up at 200 degrees cook temp and let it ride until your goose breast hits 115-118 degrees. This is probably lower than what you’re used to/comfortable with but you’re going to be ok I promise. The meat will come up to around 120 before the final sear and finish right about 130. This is perfect for waterfowl (I don’t care what your friends say).

You NEED a meat thermometer for this. Don’t be that guy who pushes on his palm while he wiggles his fingers around and says he’s a grill master. That’s ego, not expertise talking. We need to be precise here. I strongly suggest getting a digital instant thermometer if you count yourself as a hunter and plan on cooking wild meats.

Once the goose breast reaches temp pull it off and let it rest. For up to 20-30 minutes (or longer). Leave the thermometer in so you can monitor the temperature swing. This is a great time to prepare your sides.

Step Four: Finish it like a Pro

Once the rest of your meal is ready to plate, heat up your favorite skillet (hopefully it’s cast iron) to medium-high heat. Drop ¼ cup of butter into it and once it has melted then lay that goose breast in there. As soon as you do, drop in those fresh herbs, cloves of garlic, and sliced shallot if you’ve got one. As the goose breast is searing, tilt the pan to one side and use a spoon to ladle the now herb-infused butter over the top as it cooks. This is basting.

This should only take 1-1.5 minutes per side. Once you have achieved a deep golden brown on both sides pull it off, slice it, and plate it.

Bonus Points: Pan sauce

If this is actually for Christmas dinner or you’re trying to get lucky, you’re going to want to make this pan sauce. It takes 5 minutes and you probably have the needed ingredients in your kitchen already.

½ cup bourbon (plus 2 fingers)
¼ cup of water
2 tsp Worcestershire
2 TBS Dijon mustard
2 TBS butter

Remove the garlic and herbs (set aside for garnish if you feel so inclined). Use a paper towel to blot any blackened butter (leaving the brown bits stuck to the pan is encouraged). Pour in the bourbon to deglaze the pan. If you get some fire action you’ve achieved double bonus points. Let the alcohol cook off a bit and then add your water. Whisk in the Worcestershire and Dijon, then add in the 2 TBS butter. Keep whisking over medium-low heat until butter is melted and well combined. Add a little salt and pepper if it needs it.

Drizzle this over the sliced goose steak and enjoy every last bite. You earned this one.