Nic Cooks Goat

            One thing that is guaranteed to bring a smile to my face is when I get asked to help someone cook. That smile grows even larger when I am asked how cook something different and interesting. So imagine my glee when my buddy Nic caught me at my coffee shop and said to me, “So, I have this chunk of goat a friend of mine gave me.” I am sure that I started to rub my hands together as my brain moved into planning mode. Now, Nic, by his own admission is not much of a cook, but he wanted to cook goat for his girlfriend and damn it I was going to help. I started to think about the preparations of goat that I have had in my life, they are few and far between. I think that this is mainly due to the lack of goat being served in restaurants. I could only think of two ways that I have eaten goat, roasted whole on a spit over an open fire and in curry. Since Nic only had a small chunk and his landlord would probably get pissed if he started a fire in his apartment, I went with a take on curried goat.

            Now for a little aside here, there are a couple of things that I feel like I should confess at this point. The first is that I have a hate on for goats. I am not a fan. This stems from a childhood trauma where I was attacked by a goat when I was like four years old and admittedly I hold a grudge. So a small part of my glee in putting together this recipe was the knowledge that one of the little buggers was dead. As for the second confession, I have been a little bit spoiled in my life, in that I used to live with a guy named Alif who used to cook super authentic, passed down for generations, Indian food. It was so good I can’t even explain. The only thing that was better was when his mom cooked it for us. It is because of this fact that I tend to lean more towards using Thai curries. I have a fear, much like the one of goats, of messing up the memory. So I steer clear and go with something I know a little bit better. I am sure that I will face the fear and attempt to rock on some Indian food but for now I am sticking with the Thai thing.

            Back to Nic and his goat, I started to plan out a meal that Nic could execute and impress his lovely girlfriend. I decided to go with a braise as Nic was not sure of the cut of his goat chunk. We met and I handed him the recipe that I had come up with. He smiled and told me that he thought that he could do it and then asked if he could contact me if he got stuck. I said sure and I sent him on his way. I received a couple of texts but Nic came though any adversity that he encountered like a champ, ovens can be tricky. So this post is a recipe that I came up with that was pulled off by my buddy Nic. He took the pictures too. I hope you dig it.

Nic’s Yellow Curried Goat Shank to the tune of A Little Help from My Friends by Joe Cocker

 1 Goat shank

1 tin of yellow Thai curry paste

Beef stock, enough to fill your cooking vessel so that your goat is submerged about half way up

2 tbsp oil

1 can coconut milk

Salt and pepper

-slather your shank in the curry paste and cover. Place in the fridge to marinate for at least 4 hours, overnight is better.

-remove from the fridge and let it come back up to room temperature. Sear off your goat, preferably in the pot you will be braising in, make sure that it is oven proof, or in a frying pan and then transfer to an oven proof vessel.

-add your beef stock and pop it into a 300-325 degree oven for about 2-3 hours depending on the size of the shank. Flip it about half way through the cooking process

-once the goat is tender remove and let it rest.

-take some of the braising liquid and add it to a smaller pot on the stove top. Add your coconut milk and let it reduce a little. Now you have your sauce.

-serve with rice. And you are done. You just cooked goat.

            So a special thanks to Nic for cooking up this meal and sharing it with the world and giving me an excuse to figure out how to cook it. I am glad that it worked out for you. If you cannot find goat, this recipe will work great with lamb too. Give it a go and let me know if it works for you like it worked for Nic.