Slow Cooked Curried Pulled Goose Breast

Pulled curried goose breast with turmeric rice

While all forms of wild game have a tendency to be tough if not cooked appropriately and extremely carefully, I have found that goose breast fillets can be particularly challenging in this way. More often than not, I simply slice them across the grain to a thickness of around a quarter inch and then flash fry the strips. In this instance, however, I decided to slow cook the breast in a rich curry sauce before teasing it apart with 2 forks, as would more commonly be done with a slow-roasted shoulder of pork to produce pulled pork. 

Cook Time

Prep time: 1/2 hour

Cook time: Overnight plus 1/2 hour

Ready in: Overnight plus 1 hour

Yields: 6 to 8 servings

Skinless Canada goose breast fillet

Ingredients

• 2 large white onions, peeled, halved and sliced
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
• 4 14-ounce (400g) cans chopped tomatoes in tomato juice
• 1 teaspoon hot curry powder
• 1 teaspoon dried coriander (cilantro)
• 2 birds' eye chillies, finely chopped
• Salt and black pepper
• 3 bell peppers, seeded and sliced
• 2 14-ounce (400g) cans chickpeas in water, drained and rinsed
• 3 ounces (75g) brown rice per person
• Generous pinch ground turmeric per person
• 2 tablespoons freshly chopped coriander (cilantro) for curry, plus extra to garnish
• 1 tablespoon freshly chopped coriander (cilantro) per person for rice

Sliced onion and garlic

Method

Add the onion and garlic to the slow cooker.

Chopped tomatoes and seasonings are added to slow cooker

Pour the 4 cans of chopped tomatoes over the onion and garlic. Add the curry powder, dried coriander/cilantro, chopped chillies and about a teaspoon of salt. Season to taste with black pepper.

Goose breast is submerged in spicy tomato sauce

Stir the combination carefully but well and slide the goose breast into the mixture, ensuring it is fully covered. Put the lid on the slow cooker and turn it on at its low setting. Cook for 10 hours. I cooked it overnight.

Slow cooked goose breast

Remove the lid from the slow cooker and be careful of escaping steam. Use a large, slotted spoon to lift the goose breast from the sauce to a deep plate.

2 forks are used to shred goose breast

While it's still hot, use 2 forks to shred the goose breast, just as you would with a shoulder of pork if making pulled pork. Cover and set aside.

Sliced bell peppers are added to spicy tomato sauce

Carefully ladle or pour the sauce into a large soup or stock pot. Add the sliced bell peppers, stir carefully but well and bring to a gentle simmer for 10 minutes.

Chickpeas and shredded goose breast are added to curry sauce

Add the chickpeas and shredded goose breast to the curry sauce, stir well and bring back to a simmer for 5 final minutes while you get the rice on to cook. Turn the heat off under the curry and cover.

Turmeric and black pepper are added to drained rice

Different types of rice require different cooking times. This is brown rice which had to be simmered in salted water for 20 minutes. Check the instructions on your pack. When the rice is cooked, drain it through a colander, return to the empty pot and season with turmeric and black pepper. Stir gently but well and allow to steam off and dry out for a couple of minutes.

Chopped coriander is added to goose breast curry

Coriander/cilantro is added to the pulled goose breast curry before being carefully stirred through.

Chopped coriander is added to rice

Add the coriander to the rice and carefully stir/fold to combine.

Rice border is prepared in serving plate

Spoon the rice into a deep serving plate and arrange it around the border as shown.

Goose curry is ladled into serving plate

A couple of ladles of the curry should be added to the well in the centre of the plate before it is garnished with the last of the coriander/cilantro and served.