Leftover roast goose risotto with orange and pomegranate salsa

We had a New Year's roast goose yesterday and had a load of meat left over so I've come up with this seasonal version of a risotto to use it all up.

I started off by soaking some dried mushrooms in boiling water for half an hour or so.  Every risotto needs mushrooms but the ones you get in supermarkets can be either boring or expensive.  We have a large jar of dried mushrooms bought from Bookers which contains Oysters, Boletes and Cloud Ears.  This is a great earthy mixture and should compliment the goose perfectly.

If you've had goose you'll know it's quite heavy and fatty.  If you haven't had it...you should!  To counteract the fattiness I decided on an orange based salsa...

Whilst the mushrooms were rehydrating I segmented two oranges and put them in a large bowl.  To this I added half a finely chopped red chilli, a good handful of pomegranate seeds, a dash of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice.  All mixed together, cling-filmed and stuck in the freezer.  I'll mix in a handful of freshly chopped mint just prior to serving

to freshen it all up and balance out the hot and sweet flavours.

Now on to the risotto!  Woo's already keeping me company in the kitchen rustling up a meaty, ricey treat for the dogs' supper and her son, Joe, is on his way home so best get cracking!

In a large pan on a low heat I sweated off a chopped shallot in some butter and to this I added the other half of the chilli I didn't use in the salsa.  This I kept in one piece and will remove after about five minutes or so. I want a bit of heat but not too much.  I would normally add garlic at this point as well but the goose was stuffed with a whole head of garlic and a couple of satsumas when it was cooked yesterday and I used the carcass to make the stock I'll be using so there will be plenty of garlic flavour going in anyway.  Once the shallots are nice and creamy it's time to add the rice.  

So, to the pan I've added about 250/300g of carnaroli risotto rice and stirred it in to thoroughly coat it with the softened butter.  I've used carnaroli rice rather than arborio because it has a firmer texture and is longer grained and seems to hold up better during the slow cooking needed for a decent risotto.  You can use either though it doesn't really matter unless you want to show off in a blog!!

Once the rice has cooked for about a minute or so its time to start adding the stock a ladle at a time.  Let each addition get sucked up by the rice and then add another.  Keep going until the rice is soft but still has a slight bite to it.  You can't really take your eye off the ball with a risotto and you certainly can't rush it so listen to some music and enjoy the experience.

In goes ladle after ladle of my goose stock and after about 5 minutes about half a glass of white wine.  I've got the stock over a low heat in a pan one ring over so it's an easy job!  Woo and I are having a Dry January so the only wine being consumed this evening is already in the pan!  After about 20 minutes it was ready for the next step.

I've chopped the rehydrated mushrooms into rustic chunks and pan wards they go, closely followed by the shredded goose meat.  Tasted and seasoned with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper - always taste before seasoning when using leftovers as they will have retained at least some of the seasoning from the original cooking.  You can add more but you cant take any away!

It's all coming together now so out of the fridge comes the salsa and in goes some chopped mint.

...and into the risotto goes a handful of parmesan cheese and the same of chopped parsley...one minute more for the cheese to melt in then all done and ready to serve!