For the past two years a friend of mine has been hosting a day on his farm in which he opens up his home to as many friends and family that want to come. Last year he wanted to roast a pig so he called me and had me come down and roast a whole hog. It turned out great and there was more pork than we knew what to do with. This year he wanted to do it again only he didn't want as much left over meat as he had last year so when he called and asked if I could do a goat for him I was intrigued and excited. I had never cooked a whole goat before and had only eaten it a few times. His thought was that if we got two goats and roasted one over a fire and then broke the other down we could make a curry stew out of some of the second goat and still have some goat for the freezer. We were planning on around 60 people coming so I thought this was a great idea and on the saturday morning of the party I got to work. I boned out and cubed half the goat and got the meat started for the Goat, Squash and curry stew. I also started the fire in the pit so I could get a good base layer of coals going before I started the whole goat.
The curry stew was fairly simple to throw together it was a recipe from
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstahl only he used lamb instead of goat. But I assure you if you want to try it with either it will be wonderful, I would imagine it would be quite tasty with venison as well. I may have to try that another time. As a bonus we got the kidneys, livers and hearts from the goats as well and I made a simple marinade for them and made variety skewers for the more adventurous eaters. They were a big hit and had a very clean, non-abrasive taste as some offal can. The goat was cooked very slowly over low heat and was seasoned with a variation of a greek rub. The goat meat was tender and delicious and what surprised me the most was that the fat on the goat was not overpowering or gamey like fat can be on lamb or venison.
To go along with our roasted goat we had some flat breads and I thought it would be fitting to have a Tzatziki to go along with the meat. A Tzatziki is a yogurt sauce made with cucmbers, fennel, lemon ad garlic. Rick didn't have any fennel growing in the garden so I used radishes instead and was very pleased with the end result.
The whole day was quite a success and nobody went hungry. At the end of the day we only had a little of the curry left and a few choice cuts of the goat left over. I was able to convince Rick to let me take one of the goat hams home to cure into Mocetta, a northern italian goat ham, that I had read about. It will be finish in about six weeks and I am very excited for that. There were lots of kids out on the farm that day and all of them tried a little goat. My favorite helper was with me as usual and even she enjoyed the goat, although not as much as the cake. I have been very fortunate to have the friends and family that I have, and that they are so willing to let me come and create the dishes I do for them. I am already looking forward to next years festivals.
Goat Rub
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons minced onions
2 tablespoons oregano
2 tablespoons basil
2 tablespoons fennel seeds
2 tablespoons marjoram
2 tablespoons thyme
1 teaspoon lemon grass
1 cup sea salt
Photos by John Scott Auterino
