Wednesday, April 8, 2015

G is for Goat

GoatI have only had the chance to eat goat once, it was absolutely delicious and not unlike lamb. It was in a fantastic Greek restaurant which used to be in Brantford, Ontario, where the chef was reputed to have worked for Onassis’ brother. We went there for my 50th birthday and had a fabulous meal, including the roast goat. Domestic goats are kept for their milk and their meat and, in some parts of the world their hair and skins are also much prized. There are, in fact, over 300 distinct breeds of goat. They are one of the oldest domesticated breeds and have been herded by humans since early times and the most recent genetic analysis confirms the archaeological evidence that the wild Bezoar ibex of the Zagros Mountains are the likely origin of almost all domestic goats today.

I just thought, I could have done Guinea Pig. They are eaten in Ecuador and I have seen film where some of the primitive people have guinea pigs running around their mud floors all the time and when they want dinner they just grab one or two and cook them. In the film, the traveller ate them and said they were tasty. What about what the Guinea Pigs leave behind, is that all over the floors too?

Moroccan Goat

Chef and caterer Sarah Dougall says, 'This Moroccan-inspired recipe is sensational when prepared with goat, which has a natural sweetness that is a perfect combination with this well-spiced dish. Serve the stew with saffron Moroccan Goatcouscous, pilau rice or a simple salad accompanied with plenty of bread to soak up the juices.'

Serves 4
Ingredients
For the goat
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 onion, finely diced
  • 750 g goat shoulder, cut into 4-5 cm cubes
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1 x 400 g can plum tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 30 g dried apricots, roughly chopped
  • 1 pinch saffron 
  • goat or lamb stock or water
For the spice mixture
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 1½ tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • ½ tsp ground chilli
  • Maldon salt and freshly ground pepper
To garnish
  • 4 tbsp finely chopped coriander
  • ½–1 tsp of harissa paste
  • ½ lemon rind finely grated and juiced
  • 1 tbsp honey

To serve

  • 300 g pumpkin, peeled, chopped into 1–2 cm cubes and roasted in olive oil with a little seasoning
Cook's notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
Instructions
Place the olive oil in a large saucepan or flame-proof casserole pan and put it over a moderate-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the onion to the pan and sweat for 1 minute until transparent. 
Place all the spice mixture ingredients in a bowl and mix together until combined.
Toss the goat in the spices so that it is well coated. Add the spiced goat and garlic to the pan and seal the goat on all sides so that it is browned.
Stir in the chopped tomatoes, cinnamon stick, apricots, saffron and enough stock to just cover the goat. Bring to the boil then reduce to a slow simmer. Leave the goat to cook for 1–1½ hours or until the meat is tender, stirring regularly with a wooden spoon (adding more stock or water as needed if the liquid level is below the goat).
If the stew is too watery, drain off the excess liquid into a saucepan and reduce until thickened. Then return to the stew. 
Stir in 3 tablespoons of the chopped coriander, harissa paste (more or less to taste), lemon zest, juice and honey.
Garnish with roasted pumpkin and scatter over remaining coriander.

Have a great day
Jo

36 comments:

  1. We had goats when I was growing up. We drank their milk, but never ate them. Our friends did BBQ theirs once, but I couldn't eat it.

    Scribbles From Jenn - Visiting from the A to Z Challenge

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    1. Pity, it's very tasty meat. I've only eaten it the once unfortunately.

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  2. I had some co-workers from the Philippines when I worked in the hospital. When we had pot-luck parties they would bring a dish with goat meat. It was always delicious. I've never tried to cook it.

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    1. Never seen it to buy in the first place Denise. I bet it's very expensive round here.

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  3. They just grab one and cook it - that's hilarious! Try that here and your kids would go into hysterics.
    I don't think I've eaten goat meat although I've had goat milk before.

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    1. Yeah, but they don't have them in pretty cages with wheels to play on. There are just hoards of them running all around the place. Just bend and there's dinner.

      I've eaten goat cheese but never milk. If you like lamb, you will like goat

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  4. I wouldn't feel to bad for those guinea pigs. My daughter's friend's pig wasn't fed properly while the family was out of town, so she resorted to eating her new babies for dinner. Talk about sending the kids into hysterics!

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    1. Well animals ensure that they are going to live. Fish do too, one often needs to use a special breeding trap in an aquarium to protect the babies from the mother who will eat them as they are born. Nature does some odd things.

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  5. Using lamb for goat instead would work in this recipe, I think Jo. Might try it.

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    1. Oh definitely Natasha, similar flavours.

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  6. I'm thinking if you're willing to grab it off the floor and cook it up for dinner, you're not too worried about the poo it leaves on the floor. How gross. I love guinea pigs...not as food, but as pets. We had one when I was a kid and we'd let it out to run loose and play. When we'd go "weet, weet" he would come back to his cage. (My mother hated that we would let him run, because he did leave little "pellets" around. But we were bad kids...we did what we wanted (when she wasn't home).

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    1. The traveller said the guinea pigs were delicious. He would try anything when he went to different countries. You should have seen one of the trips to China, I would not have eaten what he did. I don't see anything wrong with eating guinea pigs but then some countries eat dogs and I wouldn't want to do that.

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  7. I have had goat before and enjoyed it. My hubby would not. Can I substitute goat with beef for this meal? I think I saw the same show as you did regarding the guinea pigs. My friend used to have one as a pet and would be horrified

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    1. Lamb would be better than beef I think. I would try the guinea pigs if I was there.

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  8. Hi Jo - I love goat but have only had it a few times. You could have done Usain Bolt from Jamaica and his goat curry .. he had to have for the Olympics in London .. I thought I'd written about it .. but obviously never did!! They shipped it over for him ...

    Guinea Pig - no thanks ... Guinea Fowl - very good ...

    Cheers Hilary

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    1. Don't remember that about Bolt. Like I said, only eaten it once. I think Guinea Pig would be fine. It was that British guy, Ian something, who was there.

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  9. Nope nope nope. Couldn't eat goat or guinea pig (esp. having had guinea pigs for pets!). I don't even like goat's milk. Hubs could and probably has eaten goat.

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    1. Do you cook things for him that you don't like?

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  10. I've never eaten Goat and I really don't plan to.

    Enjoy the rest of the A to Z Blog Challenge.

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    1. Do you eat lamb lass? It's very similar.

      You too.

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  11. I've never eaten goat, but I did make goat's milk formula for my oldest child, because she couldn't handle soy or other formulas on the market at the time. I'm a big fan of lamb, though I don't eat it all that often, because it's not a majority favorite around here.

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    1. I remember it being very similar to goat. Never tried goat's milk but often have goat cheese.

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  12. Goat is good meat- never tried guinea pig but have an adventurous attitude to food. As long as the animals are treated respectfully, that is. Recipe looks delicious :-)

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    1. You and me both Lisa. I will try most things.

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  13. My husband eats goat all the time at an Indian restaurant in town. I like it only cooked in certain ways. But, I LOVE goat's cheese, especially hard goat cheese, which is hard to find here in the south. Lisa, co-host AtoZ 2015, @ http://www.lisabuiecollard.com

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    1. Don't think I have come across hard goat's cheese, only the more crumbly kind, but I do like that.

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  14. I like Fetta cheese. Sometimes it's made from goat's milk. I could never eat goat meat. I most definitely wouldn't eat a guinea pig. I wouldn't have thought they'd have much meat on them anyway. They seem to be all hair.

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    1. That's interesting you spell feta with two t's and we only use one in fact I tried typing two of them and it got auto corrected. Isn't it made from Ewe's milk or am I thinking of something else? If you eat lamb you would enjoy goat. The guinea pigs looked pretty good when they were being eaten. If you have access to dozens of them all the time, I guess you can cook as many as you want.

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  15. I've never eaten goat. No particular reason,. Guess I've never seen it on a menu.

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    1. Not something you see in your average restaurant I guess.

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  16. I think I had goat at a Mexican restaurant; they call it "cabrito" and the waiter said it was lamb, but I'm pretty sure cabrito is goat. Didn't matter, it was very tasty.

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    1. Not sure what they call it John. I don't think there is a lot of difference. Now I think of it, it's some 26 years since I ate it.

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  17. Other than a Greek restaurant, I wonder where one would find goat to buy to cook. I haven't seen it at the store. Will have to make it a point to look for it and restaurants to eat it at so I can say I at least tried it once.

    betty

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    1. Unless you have stores that specialise in the foods of different countries or unusual products. Seems like a Mexican restaurant might have it too.

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  18. Hi Jo! Goat meat is something special in my hometown, there are resto's which would actually name their place as "Kambingan", for example, Maria's Kambingan. "Kambing" is our local term for goat.

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    1. You don't say where your home town is. Most of us don't know where to go to find goat or Kambing.

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