• Skip to content

Hunter Angler Gardener Cook

Finding the Forgotten Feast

  • Home
  • About
  • Book Tour
  • Wild Game
    • Venison Recipes
    • Duck and Goose Recipes
    • Rabbits, Hares and Squirrels
    • Pheasants, Turkey, Quail
    • Dove and Pigeon Recipes
    • Wild Pig and Bear Recipes
    • Wild Game Sauces
    • Chilindron, The Ultimate Wild Game Stew
  • Charcuterie
    • Fresh Sausage Recipes
    • Smoked Meats and Fish
    • Bacon, Jerky, Hams, etc
    • Salami Recipes
    • Confit, Pate, Terrines
  • Fish
    • General Fish Recipes
    • Salmon and Trout Recipes
    • Crabs, Shellfish and Squid
    • Little Fish and Oddballs
  • Foraging
    • Wild Greens and Herbs
    • Mushroom Recipes
    • Acorns, Nuts, Starches
    • Pickles and Preserved Foods
    • Berries, Sweets and Syrups
    • Unusual Vegetables
  • Podcast
Share73
Pin576
Tweet
Email
Yum23
Share
Reddit
Stumble
Shares 672

Goose Stew with Barley and Mushrooms

By Hank Shaw 20 Comments

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

I have a love-hate relationship with snow geese.

Here in Northern California, we are blanketed in snows every winter. Blizzards of them descend on the rice fields north of Sacramento, their grinds a white tornado of birds. Their barking din echoes in my ears long after I’ve left the marshes. They are everywhere.

So you would think that with a half-million wintering snow geese, plus another 200,000 Ross’ geese (the snow’s smaller cousin) it would be easy to shoot your fill here in the Central Valley. Nothing could be further from the truth. Snow geese are aloof. They travel the valley en masse, in flocks that can number in the hundreds.

Ever try calling a group of 300 snow geese down to your decoy spread? Unless you are a very good caller — and you have 2000 decoys around you — it ain’t happenin’.

Most days we mere mortals just stare longingly at the lords of the air as they cruise over us 150 yards up. We are cats peering through a window, licking our chops at the doves just outside. So close. So far.

But sometimes the window opens. Strong winds force the geese to fly lower, where wind speeds are typically slower. In a really powerful wind, the white kings must return to earth. Where we are waiting for them.

Saturday morning came early, 2:30 a.m. to be exact. I had drawn the No. 23 pick at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, but our friend David had the No. 5 pick, which would practically give us free rein of choice places to hunt on the refuge. And it was windy, with gusts expected at 30 miles per hour or more.

David had done his research, and chose a blind where we were likely to intercept snow geese taking flight into the wind, and out of nearby “closed zones,” where hunting is prohibited.

“It’s going to be tough carrying back our 18 geese today,” David joked. I snorted. The idea of David, Holly and I each getting our limit of six snow geese was preposterous, even on a windy day. I tend to be a cup-half-empty guy in the field: I’ve seen the best-laid plans of mice and men fail time and time again, and so I’d rather be pleasantly surprised with modest success than crestfallen once high hopes crash.

Just before dawn, the ducks were flying everywhere. Even my hopes began to rise. But of course, they were flying just out of range. We were required to hunt from a stomped-down, mud island blind with little cover. It was clear the ducks knew danger lurked on that island. David managed to drop a teal, but soon after the ducks disappeared. We would see very few of them for the rest of the day.

But as expected, the snow geese were flying. Low. Holly shot one, but it sailed. This is one of the great frustrations of snow goose hunting. Geese in general are tough animals. I can’t count the number of times I’ve plucked a goose and found healed shotgun wounds on wings and bodies and legs. They don’t die easy. Holly dashed off to recover her goose.

While she was gone, another group of geese came toward us, barking all the way. They flew right over the blind, and David and I rose up and dropped two. Thank God. I jumped out of the blind, grabbed the geese and brought them back before another flock flew by. My goose was a Ross’ goose, a small species of snow goose that’s only slightly larger than a mallard.

Holly returned, gooseless. Her snow had indeed died, but it landed in a deep canal in the closed zone, where hunters are forbidden to enter. Maddening.

Equally maddening was the geese’s habit of coming right at us, closer… closer… and then side-slipping away to the left or right at the last minute. For every flock that flew right over us, ten side-slipped us. And even with the wind bringing the snows down from an unreachable 150 yards to a tantalizing 60 yards, 60 yards is an iffy shot at best. We needed them lower.

As the day wore on, from time to time the goose flights would stop altogether. Once the drought lasted two hours. Why we stayed is beyond me. The eternal hope of a hunter, I suppose. Maybe the next flock would make a mistake. Maybe it’ll be lower. Maybe we’d actually kill one. Maybe.

Perseverance paid off. Some geese did make mistakes, and I did manage to kill four snows on Sunday. But it took until sundown. We drove home, exhausted.

goose stew with barley
Photo by Holly A. Heyser

At the table, snow geese do not enjoy the reputation of their darker neighbors in our marshes, the white-fronted goose, a/k/a specklebelly. We call that bird the “ribeye in the sky” as they are usually fat and lovely. Not so the snow goose, whose other name is the unflattering “sky carp.”

Snow geese are primarily eaters of green things, not grain. Grass will keep you lean. Grain makes you fat. So snows are rarely pudgy. And their skin? It’s blue. Weird, I know. Looks unnerving plucked and roasted. But then again, I rarely bother with this anymore. Snow goose feathers are harder to pluck than any other waterfowl I know. So I skin most of them.

Once skinned, however, snow geese are fine fare. One great way to cook them is in this simple, Russian-inspired goose stew with barley, celery root and lots of mushrooms. It is a soul-satisfying, rib-sticking peasant dish. Just the thing to salve the frustration of 13 hours spent in the marsh, staring enviously at the lords of the air.

5 from 5 votes
goose stew with barley
Print
Goose Stew with Barley and Mushrooms
Prep Time
20 mins
Cook Time
3 hrs
Total Time
3 hrs 20 mins
 

This is a hearty stew inspired by similar Russian stews I've come across over the years. I imagine it to be something eaten in Siberia, or on Wrangel Island, where many of California's snow geese spend their summers. I used snow geese in this recipe, but the dish would work with all sorts of meats. I also used wild yellowfoot mushrooms, which can be hard to find. Any fresh mushroom will do. Don't have celery root? Use potatoes. No barley? Rye or wheat berries would also work, although rye takes a long time to cook. No duck fat? Use lard or butter. No duck stock? Use beef stock.

Course: Soup
Cuisine: Russian
Serves: 8 people
Author: Hank Shaw
Ingredients
  • 8 goose legs, about 2-3 pounds
  • 3 tablespoons duck fat, lard or butter
  • 1 large onion, sliced, about 3 cups
  • 1 pound yellowfoot chanterelles or other mushrooms
  • 7 cups duck stock or beef stock
  • 2 teaspoons marjoram
  • 1 cup barley
  • 1 cup sliced carrots
  • 1 celery root, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
  • Salt and black pepper to taste
  • 1 tablespoon sour cream per person
Instructions
  1. Heat the duck fat in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat and brown the goose legs well. Salt them as they cook. Remove the goose legs as they brown and set aside.
  2. Once the goose legs are all browned, add the onions and mushrooms and turn the heat to high. Stir to combine. Saute until the onion begins to brown, about 6-8 minutes. Add the marjoram and return the goose legs to the pot, then pour over the duck stock. Bring to a simmer and cook until the goose legs are tender, anywhere from 1 hour to 3 hours.
  3. When the goose legs are tender, remove them, let them cool a bit, and pull all the meat off the bone. Return it to the pot. Add the barley, carrots and celery root. Stir well and cook until the barley and celery root are cooked, about 30 minutes. Add salt to taste.
  4. Serve garnished with dill and black pepper, and give everyone a dollop of sour cream on their bowls when you come to the table.

This stew keeps well in the fridge for a week, and it freezes well.

 

More Duck and Goose Recipes

Share73
Pin576
Tweet
Email
Yum23
Share
Reddit
Stumble
Shares 672

Filed Under: Ducks and Geese, Fall Recipes, Northern European, Recipe, Wild Game, Winter Recipes Tagged With: German and Scandinavian Recipes, goose recipes, Hunting and Fishing Stories, mushrooms, stews, wild food, Wild Game

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Carol Fremder says

    December 29, 2014 at 9:59 am

    I made this yesterday. Awesome. The whole pot was eaten in one sitting. Is there a similar version of this that can be made with venison?

  2. Hank Shaw says

    December 29, 2014 at 12:23 pm

    Carol: Go ahead and use venison instead of goose legs. Should be fine!

  3. Alyona Michael says

    April 16, 2017 at 11:39 am

    Used carcass and leftover meat from Xmas goose, added a few duck carcasses. Exceptional flavor. My father insists that we continue raising geese exclusively for the purposes of this recipe.

  4. Emma Levasseur says

    October 1, 2017 at 1:36 pm

    I made this recipient for the first time three years ago and make batches of it every year with duck breasts, pheasant and sometimes chicken. LOVE it. So do the kids.

  5. Paul Myles says

    March 4, 2018 at 10:18 am

    I don’t know whether I should commiserate with the hunting story or salute the dish… but I put an Egyptian goose into this recipe and scored big points with the wife today. I had prepared some duck stock while preparing mallards in November so that went in as well. Standard mushrooms and followed the recipe and all went smoothly. The goose needed 3hrs simmering and tastes beefier than the store-bought goose I had one Christmas but its good. Egyptian geese get a bad rap but this recipe is worth repeating 🙂

« Older Comments

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to Top
  • Home
  • About
  • Classes & Events
  • Tutorials
  • Podcast
  • Charcuterie
  • Wild Game
  • Fish
  • Foraging
  • Privacy

© 2018 Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, All Rights Reserved.

Site built by: Site by Status Forward