Holiday Cooking

I had some interesting food for the holidays thanks to someone at work who supplied me with a goose breast and a venison tenderloin.
The goose breast was an interesting experiment in a new meat I had never prepared before. I learned that the key is moisture, but alas, it did turn out too dry regardless.

After, I butchered the breast into filets, I used a recipe that called for soaking the breasts in red wine for about 2 days. I then stuffed them with apples and potatoes and wrapped them in bacon. They looked beautiful, but I think we sat them out too long before slicing them up because the meat was still pretty dry.

It was an interesting experiment though. Maybe next year I'll get it right.

One highlight of Christmas dinner was Fougoo's mother's dish of pike air bladder topped with shrimp and ham.
Fascinated by the idea of the air bladder, I looked at the package, and they looked like pork rinds. I think they are more for texture as the items themselves absorbed the broth from the dish. They were pretty darn good.

For New Year's, I scored an amazing piece of venison tenderloin. Redneckhunter, grillmaster, prepared it for us. First, a soak in some red wine, then searing the outside with butter.
He then coated the meat with whole grain mustard and smoked the meat for about 45 minutes.

The result was spectacular- the meat was still red inside and tasted amazing- so rich. He smoked a piece of beef at the same time and compared to the venison, the beef was like chicken in richness.