L’oie Rôtie de Noël

Roast goose is a reason to celebrate, and here is a splendid Alsatian recipe in which the bird is basted with beer so the skin darkens and the gravy toasts to a deep caramel. Whole apples cooked in the cavity add unexpected flavor and emerge tasty and hot, ready to serve with the accompanying rutabagas and Brussels sprouts. I look for a goose with creamy white skin and plump breast meat that almost conceals the breastbone. Even then, a bird weighing ten pounds (four and one-half kilograms)