By Jonathan Bowman
Photos by Jonathan Bowman
“Come on, there’s no way that’s not a backstrap from a deer. I don’t believe you!” That is an actual quote from friend and fellow hunter, Ransom Cobler.
Ransom’s reaction is not uncommon. Goose breast is most often thrown away or turned into jerky, pastrami (one of my favorites) or set on the smoker. Besides throwing the bird away, these are all excellent options! Today, I want to encourage you to look at your next goose breast the same way you would look at a “steak cut” from any larger four-legged animal.
What does goose taste like? Goose! And that’s a very good thing. I believe goose meat has a subtle, but incredibly interesting nutty flavor that I have yet to find in any other wild game. It’s a rich meat with full-bodied flavors that will widen eyes.
Fortunately, goose breasts are incredibly simple to prepare and compliment a wide array of sauces and sides. It is excellent with Cumberland sauce (thank you Hank Shaw for that one).
However, you may not have everything in your pantry already to make a Cumberland sauce or one of the other complex recipes that quickly pop up for goose meat. So, I asked my friend Wil Arrington as we prepared to cook a goose breast for this article, “How basic can we keep it?”
A brief aside… I kept thinking of how I needed to mention multiple people as I wrote about cooking with goose meat. At first I was afraid that it would negatively impact the flow of this article, but this is a great problem! This “problem” is due is the communal nature of hunting and cooking wild game. It’s almost impossible not to share that which you have worked so hard to harvest.
Now back to the goose. What do most hunters have in their kitchen? Salt and pepper? Check. Garlic cloves/garlic powder? Check. Bourbon or rum? Check. I looked at Wil, shrugged my shoulders, and said, “Let’s see how it turns out.”
It turned out.
Here’s all you need to do, and I bet if you follow this recipe you will want to start goose hunting!
Get the recipeThe side I made in this photo? Just take any potato and slice it thin. Add a base layer of peanut oil (or other high heat cooking oil) to your pan and once the oil is hot (if you flick water on it and it splatters it’s hot), add the potatoes and cook until golden brown. Add salt after they are finished cooking.
If you make something inspired by this, please share with me on Instagram or email your experience/questions!
Jonathan Bowman lives in Amelia County, where he spends as much time as possible hunting, fishing, and cooking. Jonathan loves sharing his passions with others, and is determined to one day convince his wife to join him on a turkey hunt.