Goose Pie

ALL IN A DAY’S WORK
‘Stuck in Muck’
(Goose Pie)

“Mother Goose, Mother Goose this is Chicken Little! Come in Mother Goose!” Oh, Oh! It was only 9 a.m. and it sounded as though the sky was already falling. My son-in-law, David, was guiding at the goose hunting lodge and had left in the Tundra Turtle around 6 a.m. to take a couple of the hunters north, about 5 miles to the farthest blind. I knew something was up if he was checking in already. Sure enough, he informed me that the Turtle was “stuck in the muck”- the worst I’ve ever seen it,” he said. Now this was a serious dilemma as the two hunters he had with him were not capable of walking back to camp through the mud flats of Hudson Bay. Fortunately, they were stuck near the three mile blind and would be able to hunt while awaiting rescue. Our other problem was that our back up transportation, The Pug, was out of commission.

Not to worry – we had two hunters at the Button Bay outcamp who would be in for lunch and supplies, somewhere between 12 and 1 p.m., on their four wheelers. Bob, our ‘one man camp maintenance department’, would get together the equipment he and David thought they would need to get the beast out; Brian and Paul would transport him to the scene. We might as well carry on with our normal preparations. Tonight we had Goose Pie planned and I already had the legs and breasts simmering in stock to tenderize and soak up some great flavour.

Goose Pie

• Legs and breasts of 2 geese

• ½ cup chopped onions

• 4 tsp. beef bouillon

• 1 garlic clove, minced

• 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

• 2 tbsp. Dymond Lake Seasoning

• 2 cups diced potatoes

• 1 cup diced carrots

• ½ cup diced turnip

• ¼ cup flour

• 1 cup cold water

• pastry for a 10” 2-crust pie

1. Place the first 6 ingredients in a large Dutch oven and cover with water. Simmer until the meat falls off the leg bones, about 3 – 4 hours. Let cool, remove meat from bones. Return the meat to the broth and add the vegetables. Cook until vegetables are tender
    

2. Blend the flour into the cold water; stir it into the pie filling. Simmer, stirring, for about 2 minutes.
    

3. Pour the filling into an uncooked pie shell. Cover with the top crust, cutting slits to allow steam to escape. Bake at 425F for 10 minutes. Lower heat to 375F and bake an additional 40 minutes.

Serve with cranberry sauce, tomato catsup or any leftover meat gravy you may have on hand.

Brian and Paul arrived about 12:30, had a quick lunch and then headed north. The machine was hung up in the middle and David had to crawl into about three feet of malodorous muck to shovel it free. An hour and a half of digging and pulling, jacking up the tires and buoying them up with boards, and they were free. Marie and I were able to watch their progress through the spotting scope and were mighty happy to see the machine begin to move.

The rescue crew arrived back at the lodge covered from head to toe in mud flats gumbo, followed an hour or so later by David and his hunters. David and the rescue crew had to be hosed down before they were allowed in the lodge! The guests had lots to talk about as they dug into the goose pie, fresh from the oven. On top of it all, they had a successful hunt and were able to supply us with geese for our next “Dymond Lake Goose Pie.”


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