Dave’s Grilled Marinated Goose Breast

DavId likes a long marinade for goose breasts—overnight is easiest, but anywhere from 10 to 24 hours works. He uses a hand-held tenderizing tool to mark the goose breasts before marinating them; if you’re interested in buying one, see Resources.

2 goose breasts, about 1½ to 2 pounds each (trimmed)
for the marinade
½ cup olive oil
½ cup dry red wine
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh ginger
3 Tbsp. chopped garlic
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
for the red currant sauce
1 cup red currant jelly (look for Crosse & Blackwell brand)
½ cup Port
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
good pinch of ground cumin

to marinate the goose breasts

If you have a hand-held tenderizer, pierce the goose breasts about 20 times with it. (If not, use a fork.) Combine all the marinade ingredients in a non-reactive bowl (such as stainless steel) and add the goose breasts. Cover well and refrigerate for at least 10 hours but up to 24 hours.

to make the sauce In a saucepan, whisk together all of the sauce ingredients thoroughly. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat and cook until the mixture reduces to the viscosity of cough syrup, about 8 to 10 minutes total. (Your yield will be about 1 cup.) You can hold the sauce off the heat while you grill the goose, but you will need to rewarm it to loosen it up to serve.

to cook the goose breasts

Remove the goose breasts from the refrigerator 45 minutes before cooking to take the chill off. Prepare a charcoal grill fire using hardwood charcoal. When the coals are white hot, “bank” them to one side of the kettle so that there is a hotter side and a cooler side of the grill. Remove the goose breasts from the marinade and put them directly on the grill grate over the hottest part of the fire. Sear on both sides, about 2 to 4 minutes. The breasts will be a deep dark brown when seared. Move the breasts to the cooler part of the grill, put the lid on the grill, and cook just a few minutes longer until the internal temperature of the breast registers about 110 degrees. Transfer the breasts to a carving board and let sit for 10 to 15 minutes before carving.

Slice the breasts very thinly on the bias, rewarm the sauce, and serve the slices with the sauce spooned over.

Recipe by Samantha Barrow