Smoked Goose Blueberry Grilled Cheese Sandwich 

Growing up in the Midwest, I always had an ample amount of Canada geese breasts in the freezer. Since I stopped buying meat altogether, I found I needed some sort of substitution for lunch meat. This is when I recognized the abundance of goose meat could come in handy. I decided to begin smoking most of my goose breasts, vacuum sealing, and then freezing. I then thaw, slice thin, and use as a lunch meat substitute. I’ve used all kind of rubs and seasoning over the years, however, for this recipe, I like to use the end all be all, salt and pepper due to the other flavors in the recipe. 

Brining your goose is always a good idea in my opinion. I like to make a saltwater mixture and let the meat soak for about 10-15 hours, or just overnight in the refrigerator. Some people use tons of herbs and spices in their brine, but if I’m being honest, I don’t notice much of a difference after adding the smoke. 

After it’s soaked all night, pull the meat out of the saltwater mixture and let it rest until it is room temperature on your counter. Set your smoker to about 200-225 degrees Fahrenheit. Crack corse, fresh ground pepper coating the meat and course salt sprinkled over top as well. I find more pepper and less salt is my preference.  You’ll want your internal to be approximately 155 degrees. After this, I typically pull from the smoker and let return to room temperature, then vacuum seal to enjoy the rest of the year. Waiting until they hit room temperature is incredibly important or else you’ll trap a ton of moisture in your bag and it’ll be slimy and gross when you open them up. 

For this recipe I like the salt pepper because it has so much else going on with the sandwich itself. That being said, salt and pepper is not necessarily my “go to” smoked goose recipe. For the grilled cheese, I like to use good sourdough bread. I used white cheddar in this instance because it is easy to find in Alaska, however I think brie or Gouda would have been even better! 

For the blueberry compote, I used frozen wild blueberries my wife and I picked from our yard the previous summer. Warm about three cups of blueberries in a sauce pan, mashing as they warm. Squeeze the juice from a lemon in, and 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar. Add about a teaspoon of salt and 4 tablespoons of sugar. I’ve found to not let the compote get too hot as it starts to solidify and then your spouse will hate you for having to clean that dish. 

Melt 1/2 a stick of butter and paint your bread using a pastry brush, or just dip your bread coating it in butter. Turn your cast iron to medium heat and put your bread with the cheese to it. On your other piece of bread, paint on your blueberry sauce. Once the cheese is melted on the first piece of bread, put your bread with blueberry in the pan, add some fresh arugula, and close your sandwich by flipping the melted cheese side on top of the blueberry side. 

After spending all day doing the holiday hustle, I’ve found it is nice to fire up the wood burner, sit on the couch, and enjoy an ooey gooey “fancy” grilled cheese.

Don’t forget to take a breath this holiday season, enjoy some peace and quiet while cuddled on the couch, and perhaps some of the spoils of your fall and winter with this holiday treat.