Stuffed Goose | Kars-Style Roasted Goose with Pilaf

Rinse the goose inside and out with cold water and pat it dry with paper towels. Trim away any excess fat from the cavity. Score the breast and leg skin in a crosshatch pattern with the tip of a knife, cutting only through the skin and not into the meat; these cuts give the rendered fat a way to escape. Rub salt, black pepper, and thyme over the inside and outside, then refrigerate uncovered.

Melt the butter in a wide pan and cook the finely chopped onion until translucent. Add the pine nuts and toast until pale hazelnut-brown. Stir in the rinsed rice, currants, cinnamon, allspice, and salt, then add the water. Once the rice has absorbed about half of the water, remove it from the heat, spread it on a tray, and let it cool until lukewarm.

Fill the goose cavity about two-thirds full with the lukewarm pilaf; the rice will expand in the oven, and a tightly packed cavity can split at the seam. Secure the edges of the skin with toothpicks and tie the legs together with kitchen twine. Preheat the oven to 160°C / 320°F. Set the goose breast-side up on a wire rack, with a deep roasting pan underneath.

Roast the goose at 160°C / 320°F for two and a half hours. Every half-hour, open the oven and ladle the fat that has collected in the pan into a heatproof container; if the layer of fat gets deeper than a finger, the skin underneath will not brown. Spoon a few spoonfuls of the collected fat over the goose, strain the rest, and store it in the refrigerator.

Raise the oven temperature to 200°C / 390°F and roast the goose for the final half hour, until the skin is deep golden and feels taut and crisp when touched. Do not open the oven door often during this stage; if the temperature drops, the skin will soften again. If the thickest part of the breast browns too quickly, cover just that area with a piece of foil.

Insert a thermometer into the thick meat where the leg meets the body, without touching the bone. Do not remove the goose from the oven until the reading is above 74°C / 165°F, the safe internal temperature for poultry. Check the pilaf inside the cavity the same way, because the stuffing heats more slowly than the meat. Remove the goose from the oven and let it rest under loosely tented foil for 20 minutes. Then untie the legs, transfer the pilaf from the cavity to a serving dish, and carve the goose.