To cook a goose
Purchase a fat 10 to 12 pound goose, enough to feed about eight people, a few days before you cook it. If it is frozen, buy it a day sooner to let it thaw well.
At least two days before your feast, unwrap the goose and wash it well inside and outside. Remove any extraneous fat from the gut or neck cavities. Cut off the wing tips and save, with the giblets, to make into a stock for sauce (or gravy if you're more comfortable with that).
Prepare the poultry brine in the accompanying recipe and immerse the goose in it. Refrigerate (or use an ice chest, as suggested in the recipe) until the day of the feast. Turn the bird once each day.
About two hours before you start to cook the goose, remove it from the brine and prop it up to drain the interior cavity. Do not rinse the goose.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Place the goose breast side down on a rack in a roasting pan, and cook in the preheated oven for 1 1/2 hours. Remove the goose from the oven and take it out of the roasting pan. Pour off most of the copious amount of fat, reserving the little brown goodies for the sauce. Put the bird back into the pan, breast side up, and then put it back into the oven to cook for about an hour more, until the thighs move a little freely in the joint. Set aside to rest for 30 minutes before carving while you make the sauce.
Poultry brine
Yields enough brine for a 20-pound turkey or several smaller birds.
Make the brine the night before you intend to brine the poultry.
Place the water in a large pot that can easily hold the liquid and the turkey you intend to brine. Add all ingredients and heat until it comes to a boil, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar and salt. Cover the container and set aside until the next day.
Put the poultry into the brine and refrigerate for 24 hours. If the bird(s) float to the top, use a plate or other weight to keep it completely submerged in the brine.
Several hours before roasting, remove the bird(s) from the brine and drain well, especially from the interior of the. Pat dry and roast in the usual manner.
Note: Most of us do not have enough refrigeration space to hold a large turkey, or several other fowl, in a pot large enough to brine it. A solution is to brine the poultry in an ice chest. Put a couple of bags of ice in the bottom of a large ice chest. Line the chest with a large heavy-duty plastic trash bag. Put the poultry into the bag, breast side down. Pour the brine into the bag until the poultry is entirely submerged. Close the bag around the poultry, and then tie it off with twine, sealing in the brine. Empty one or two more bags of ice on top of the bag of brine. Close the ice chest until the next day when you are ready to roast the poultry.