Goose Legs with Apple Red Cabbage (Gänsekeulen mit Apfelrotkohl)

Preparation

1. Soak the clay pot (Römertopf) in water. Add the apple and onions, cut into quarters, and sprinkle with marjoram and thyme.
2. Season the goose legs all over with salt and pepper, lay them on the bed of apple and onion and put the covered pot into the cold oven. Cook at 180 °C (conventional, top and bottom heat) for about 3.5 hours, removing the lid for the last quarter of an hour so the skin turns crisp.
3. Meanwhile, for the red cabbage, cut the cabbage into thin strips and put it in a large pan with the water. Stir in the cloves, juniper berries, bay leaves, sugar, vinegar, apples and onion, and cook until the cabbage is tender (about 45 to 60 minutes); finally adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.
4. Take the legs out of the pot and keep them warm. Lift out the apple and onion pieces, purée them with a little of the rendered goose fat, bring briefly to the boil and thicken with sauce thickener if needed.
5. Serve the goose legs with the sauce, the apple red cabbage and the potato dumplings.

Drink with it

• Red wine · excellent match

  Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) or Lemberger

  Red fruit and acidity stand up to the goose fat, and the clove and juniper from the red cabbage find their echo in the spice of the wine.

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• Dark beer · excellent match

  Dark lager or dark bock

  Roasted malt and light sweetness go with the crisp skin, and the carbonation cuts through the goose fat.

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• Herbal liqueur · excellent match

  Herbal liqueur or Halbbitter, neat, lightly chilled, as a digestif after the meal

  After rich goose, a herbal bitter is the German classic: bitter compounds and aromatic herbs clear the goose fat from the palate, and aniseed and clove notes take up the spice of the red cabbage.

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• White wine · good match

  Riesling off-dry

  Residual sugar and acidity catch the sweet-and-sour apple red cabbage and cut the fat.

• Fruit brandy · good match

  Apple or Williams pear brandy, neat, after the meal

  The apple fruit in the brandy picks up the red cabbage and sauce, and the alcohol clears the palate after the rich meal.

  What is Calvados? Apple brandy with origin ↗