Light goose burger: “Braising the Wild” with Jack Hennessy

Light Goose Burger For the past several decades, light geese populations have been increasing five percent annually. Total numbers of somewhere between 15 and 17 million snow, blue, and Ross’s geese continue to damage artic and sub-artic nesting grounds critical to waterfowl and other wildlife. To curb this trend, in 1999 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, alongside the Canadian Wildlife Service, enacted the Light Goose Conservation Order to control population growth and improve habitat. To help stabilize numbers, hunters are not required to plug their shotguns, and there is no bag limit. Translation for meat hunters: Shoot as many as you have freezer space. Despite this exciting opportunity, some hunters still prefer to hand off the meat, as these geese, in general, get a bad rap. Below are a few tips to turn this meat into a tasty burger (since everyone loves a good burger). Please also know this recipe would work for any waterfowl. A quick note: Grinding wild game is the start to a lot of great recipes, so you’ll obviously want a grinder. Some people say, You get what you pay for in terms of grinders, but I can attest $400 grinders can easily break (had it happen twice in one day of cooking seminars), so do your research. From my end, I admittedly use a $30 mostly plastic hand-crank manual grinder. It works fine for me but I also grind meat on a per meal basis. HANDLING AND GRINDING TIPS: Whether fresh or thawed, brine meat for 8 to 12 hours (1 gallon cold water, 1/2 cup non-iodized salt, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 cup black peppercorns, 1 garlic bulb, peeled and smashed). Thoroughly rinse off brine and let dry in fridge. Cut meat into large chunks, looking to remove any shot. A cold coarse grinder plate, alongside cold meat, helps produce non-mushy meat. Throw that plate in freezer for 5 to 10 minutes prior to grinding. Some people first coarse grind then fine grind. I typically don’t. In my experience, coarse-ground meat patties just as well as fine-ground meat. Ingredients (serves 4): 19 ounces light goose meat, cut into large chunks 5 ounces thick-cut bacon, cut into large pieces Diced red onion and two jalapenos (seeded) Dusting of kosher salt and black bepper Mild cheddar cheese Four brioche buns (or another quality bakery burger bun) To prepare: Run goose meat and bacon together through grinder. Patty four 6-ounce burgers. Either over an open flame or in a cast-iron skillet, grill burgers until medium-rare. Simultaneously, in a separate skillet, sauté diced red onion and jalapenos, dusted lightly with salt and pepper. Add vegetables atop burger, top with cheese and melt. Serve on bun with favorite condiments.