Ingredients:
1 whole, oven-ready goose (about 4.6kg)
1kg cooked mashed potatoes
225g streaky bacon, rinds removed and meat chopped
2 onions, finely chopped
1 small head of celery, trimmed and chopped
120g butter
225ml milk
3 tbsp mixed herbs, finely chopped
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
Method:
Fry the bacon in a pan until crisp, then add the onion and the celery and cook for about 4 minutes, or until soft but not coloured. Mix the remaining ingredients in a bowl then stir in the bacon mixture.
Use this combination to stuff the goose. Prick the skin of the goose all over then truss the bird. Sit on a trivet in a deep roasting tin, arranging the bird with the breast downwards.
Transfer to an oven pre-heated to 160°C and bake for about 3 1/2 hours. Half-way through cooking turn the goose over so that it's sitting on its back.
Allow the goose to rest for 15 minutes before carving.
Serve hot, accompanied by apple sauce and gravy made from a little of the goose fat.
