Mike LangGrilling

What's on the Grill #163

Mike LangGrilling
Goose Breasts with Orange, Ginger, & Balsamic Sauce! I enjoy having the opportunity to grill meat not normally found at the grocer. In order to bring something new to the grates, I am lucky to have a friend who enjoys waking up before sunrise, covering himself in duck urine, and blasting waterfowl out of the sky. Bless him.

Goose Breasts


Every year, Doug, my hunting guru, is kind of enough to throw me some of his catch. Last year it was duck, and this year I thought it was duck again. I thawed out the breasts he gave me and thought, wow...those are huge, that must have been one hell of a duck. Well it turns out...surprise, surprise, I'm an idiot. The breasts weren't from a duck, they were from a goose. Oh.

Using a recipe I found online, I set about preparing my duck, duck, goose dinner.

Grilled Goose


As I mentioned before, the breasts were large, and the picture doe not do them justice. I prepped the grill for medium high, but after the first eight minutes, knocked it down to medium for the last eight minutes. In hindsight, I should have dropped the temp a little more and left them on a little longer. They came out on the less done side of medium rare.

Sliced Goose Breast


The orange, ginger, & balsamic sauce was incredibly easy to make and another reason why I always keep ginger root in the freezer. It's ready to roll at a moments notice and keeps forever.

The final result was a dinner rich in flavor, but not as tender as I would have hoped or preferred. This was my first time grilling goose breasts, so I don't know if it the breasts lack of tenderness is characteristic of this majestic floating beauty, or a consequence of my waterfowl inexperience. I have had better luck with duck, that is for certain.

Although this meal wasn't totally what I was expecting, it was good...and it lasted through at least two lunches as leftovers. In my book, that is a win.