Goose Barbacoa

I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t like barbacoa. This is a classic, go-to recipe that you can use with just about any wild game. We’ve used this recipe with deer, ducks, geese, and beaver. Any tough cut will work great. Goose legs and wings are a perfect choice. Skin on or off is fine, though we find the skin on batches are the best because of the rendered fat in the cooking liquid.

If you find yourself searching for a dish to serve first time wild game eaters or just want a sure thing for taco tuesday, this recipe never disappoints. Tender, succulent, and a little spicy, the braised meat falls right off the bone and is perfect in a grilled tortilla with your favorite fixins.

Goose Leg Barbacoa

Serves: 4-6

Cook time: 30 minutes active, 2-4 hours inactive

Ingredients:

6-8 goose legs or wings (skin on or off)

1 large red onion, roughly chopped

6 cloves garlic

2 bay leaves

4-6 canned chipotle peppers in adobo

1 tsp chipotle pepper, ground 

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground cloves

1 tbsp kosher salt

½ cup lime juice, fresh

½ cup apple cider vinegar

4 cups goose stock (substitute beef or chicken stock) 

¼ cup duck or goose fat (substitute lard)

Method:

In a food processor, combine onion, garlic, chipotle peppers, spices, vinegar, lime juice, and salt. Pulse until fairly smooth, set aside.

Brown goose legs in oiled pan over medium high heat about 2-3 minutes each side. Try your best to get them evenly browned on all sides.

Place goose legs in dutch oven or slow cooker. Add puree mixture and stock, cover and cook on low for 2-4 hours, check every 30 minutes after the first hour for tenderness . Remove from heat as soon as the meat is easy to pull off the bone.

Pull meat from bones and coat in a few tablespoons of duck fat, place in serving bowl and add some of the braising liquid. Serve with any combination of tortillas, rice, beans, avocado, sour cream, salsa, lettuce, queso dip, and tomatoes.

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