Goose Tamales

Tamales and geese share something in common- there never seems to be enough of them in our freezer. A few years ago, our goose season and bag limit was halved (we hunt in the Atlantic Population Zone). This means fewer days to hunt, and only one bird per person per day. It’s been a little bit of a bummer hunting fewer days and bringing home fewer geese every season, especially because of how much we love spending time in the blind with our friends, not to mention how much goose we like to eat.

Back when we had an abundance, goose was the go-to protein most nights. With a limited supply, we have found ourselves saving more and more of it for special occasions, and making it stretch where we can. This is where tamales have come in. 

Tamales freeze extremely well, and they make two meals worth of meat into six. We like to braise a batch of legs after a couple of weekends of goose hunting and make a big batch of tamales. We eat a pile of them for a meal or two, and freeze the rest. 

This tamale recipe is similar to our turkey tamale recipe, but with a few adjustments and improvements over the original. We’ve started making the masa mixture softer, it’s easier to work with and has a lighter texture once cooked. We’ve also gotten into the habit of using dried chiles in our tamale braise now, mostly because we always have dried chiles on hand, but don’t always have roasted hot peppers.

Most importantly though, we have found that tamales are best with a lot of fat in the braise. Luckily, these late season geese have plenty of fat on them, which adds a nice richness to the entire dish. If you’re using skinned goose legs, add 1-2 cups of pork lard or duck fat if you have it.

One more note, tamales don’t take too long to prep, but they do need to braise for an extended period of time, and the cooking and cooling isn’t quick either. Because of this, we try to make as many as we can at one time.

Goose tamales

Prep time: 1 hour active, 8 hours passive

Makes around 24 tamales

Ingredients:

Filling:

8-12 goose legs, skin on

6 dried guajillo peppers

12 dried ancho peppers

6 cloves garlic

2 bay leaves

2 tsp oregano

2 tsp paprika

2 tsp cumin

1 quart goose stock

Masa mix

Dried corn husks, about 30, soaked overnight

6 cups masa harina

4 cups goose stock

2 cups lard

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp salt

Method:

Season the goose legs with salt and pepper, and brown both sides. Add to a crockpot with all other ingredients. Top off with water if needed to cover. Set to high, cook for ~6 hours or until tender enough to shred with a fork.

Remove legs from the crockpot, pull meat off bones, and shred with a fork. Discard bones and cartilage.

Transfer the braising liquid to a saucepan, then use a stick blender to puree. Simmer and reduce until slightly thick, taste and adjust seasoning. 

Pour some of the reduced liquid over shredded goose meat, tossing meat to evenly coat.

Make the dough:

Using a stand mixer or hand mixer with whisk attachment, whip lard, baking powder, and salt until light and fluffy.

In a separate bowl combine masa and stock, mix by hand until crumbly.

Using paddle attachment or your hands, fold together masa mixture and lard mixture. The texture should be soft, pliable and a touch sticky. Add splashes of cold water as needed if the dough is too dry.

To assemble:

With the husk, smoother side up, tapered point down, spread a ¼-⅓” thick layer of masa mix in a rectangular shape from the top right corner, 3-4 inches down. Leave 2” of the left side of the husk clean. Place 1-1.5 tbsp of the shredded meat mixture in the center of the masa, fold corn husk over itself and roll tight towards the clean side, twist and fold up the end. If you’d like, you can tie the folded tail end to the tamales with a strip of corn husk.

Place vertically in a steamer (open end up) over boiling water. Don’t pack them in too tight, allow some room for expansion. Steam for 1 hour, then allow to cool down for 20 minutes in the steamer before removing.

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