Free range Goat

Goat meat. What to make of it? What to do with it?…

I have been curious about this meat for quite some time now. Even though it’s the most widely eaten meat in the world it’s not much eaten here in Australia. I think I may have eaten it once about 10 years ago in a Nepalese restaurant but that has been it.

So why the curiosity? I have been playing around with different meats. Organic, free range, locally produced, environmentally best options etc etc. Even though I couldn’t care less whether I ate meat ever again, everyone else in our family thoroughly enjoys it. So to keep meal times flowing, I cook the beasts.

In different circumstances I like to think that I would be able to rear my own animals and then either butcher them my self or take them to an abattoir to be slaughtered. However I’m not in that position at the moment so who knows how that would go down when it came to crunch time. (I think I could walk my talk though).

Free range chicken and organic beef sausages are staples with us here. They are easy and it keeps the monkeys happy. I tried to do kangaroo sausages once and am still traumatised by the whole ordeal. It’s a lean meat, with high levels of protein, and is also a natural wild meat- so not the environmental problems that can be associated with domestically bred animals…. it’s just not for this city hippy farm girl.

I tried so hard to like it. All I can liken it to is…

um…… lets just say it has a very unique taste, that may not be for everyone. If you can eat the stuff- good on you.

However I digress. It was goat I was talking about.

So. I was at some farmers markets and saw a stall for some locally produced free range goat meat. It was the first time they had run the stall, so it would be good see how they do down the track. The stall was certainly getting some attention and a lot of people were trying the different goat dishes that they had for samples. I bought some and away we went.

One Goat Curry later served with Basmati rice and steamed vegetables. The verdict….

Delicious! Everyone really enjoyed it. The meat was soft and tender. There wasn’t an over powering meaty taste. The older monkey said ” I like the chicken, but not the curry”. After I had explained it was goat. (He’s 4 though, if it doesn’t involve pizza, or hommus and capsicum then dinner needs some encouragement.)

Two things to remember when cooking goat.

1/ Cook it at a low temperature- as there is not much fat in the meat it can loose moisture and toughen up quickly if cooked at high temperatures.

2/ Cook the meat with moisture- enhances flavours and increases tenderness.

Will I cook it again?

Sure will.

[Via http://cityhippyfarmgirl.wordpress.com]

Greens.

I have started Ingenue from Custom Knits using some lovely green yarn I bought from a Ravellers destash. I think that it is worsted weight from Handpainted.com who no longer exist.

Its very green and I like it but am not sure if I can wear it as it is so bright, so it might need to be dyed once knitted up!

I have been doing well with my vegetable cooking mostly due to finding this little gem of a book, Veggie Feasts. It cost less than £5 and has some great recipies. We have loved the Spinach and riccotta canneloni and the potato, chick pea and cashew nut curry.

There are great aubergine (eggplant) ideas too like this aubergine, pesto and mozzarella toasty that we had for lunch today.

My diet has changed a little for the better lately and I now use soya milk 70% of the time, which I love, I stew fruit to go on yogurts rather than buying the ready made fruit yogurts, and I am learing to cook vegetables in loads of tasty ways!

[Via http://leafgreenknits.wordpress.com]

Crumb Foam with Strawberry Syrup

Crumb Foam with Strawberry Syrup

Ingredients:

• ½ glass of  raspberry syrup
• ¾ glass of water
• 2 tbs of crumb
• vanilla to taste

Instructions:

• Mix the syrup with water and boil.
• Add the crumb and leave it to boil for about 4 minutes
• Take it off the stove and add the vanilla
• Whisk together until it cools down and becomes foamy
• Serve cold

Note: You could use this recipe with just about any juice or syrup, i have picked up  raspberry syrup because it tastes better.

[Via http://coooooking.wordpress.com]

Getting to you know, a poll.

If my WordPress stats tracker is right, people actually read this blog (or at least visit it). That means, little by little, you guys are getting to know me and I think it’s time you return the favor. Considering the emphasis on food here, I have a simple question for you: On average, how often do you cook? And by cook, I mean Cook. As in putting together several ingredients and making a meal anew — TV dinners don’t count. Be honest, too. Let’s find out what kind of foodies we’ve got visiting Anagram.

View This Poll

answers

[Via http://aminamania.wordpress.com]

Weekend cheesecake

This strawberry cheesecake is the weekend cooking I mentioned the other day.  I produced it very successfully but for some reason failed to photograph it with the same level of success.  I took many a photo, but even once I’d photoshopped the best one it looked rubbish combared with this lovely photo which accompanied the recipe over at BBC GoodFood, so I thought I’d just use theirs instead!  Doesn’t it look lovely?

The cheesecake was deliciously rich and sweet and strawberry-y and generally scrummy that I would highly recommend you make it this weekend, and it’s pretty easy too (the only difficult bit is leaving it overnight to set – I had to threaten Mr M with divorce to stop him slicing into it while I slept!).  If you’re not up for making the whole cake (although I really don’t see why you wouldn’t be), at least whip up some of the strawberry sauce.  It really is amazingly tasty, for something so simple.  Hurrah for spring and strawberries!

[Via http://domestikated.wordpress.com]

Fruit Salsa and Cinnamon

Fruit Salsa and Cinnamon

Ingredients

• 2 kiwis, peeled and diced
• 2 Golden Delicious apples – peeled, cored and diced
• 8 ounces raspberries
• 1 pound strawberries
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons fruit preserves, any flavor
• 10 (10 inch) flour tortillas
• butter flavored cooking spray
• 2 cups cinnamon sugar

Instructions:

• In a large bowl, thoroughly mix kiwis, Golden  apples, raspberries, strawberries, white sugar, brown sugar and fruit preserves. Cover and chill in the refrigerator at least 15 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Coat one side of each flour tortilla with butter flavored cooking spray. Cut into wedges and arrange in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Sprinkle wedges with desired amount of cinnamon sugar. Spray again with cooking spray.
• Bake in the preheated oven 8 to 10 minutes. Repeat with any remaining tortilla wedges. Allow to cool approximately 15 minutes. Serve with chilled fruit mixture.

[Via http://coooooking.wordpress.com]

Classic Pea Soup with Ham

My Mom is a wonderful soup maker and often made a pea soup, sans the ham, when we were growing up. When over for dinner the other night, she reminded us that she is simply not interested in cooking and who can blame her – cooking for our family all those years.  So I don’t get to enjoy her soups much anymore, but about once a month I have the pleasure of enjoying some spectacular home cooked soup by Anka.  When asked for the recipes, Anka shrugs and says something like, “water, a few vegetables, lentils, water and salt & pepper, and cook it for a while. I’ll keep working on it. Maybe this one will be as good as hers.

Ingredients

1 smoked ham hock, (about 1 lb/500 g)

1 tbsp (15 mL) vegetable oil

1 large onions, finely chopped

2 carrots, finely chopped

2 celery stalks, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 bay leaves

1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt

1/2 tsp (2 mL) pepper

4 cups (1 L) sodium-reduced chicken stock

2 cups(500 mL) dried green split peagreen split peas or dried yellow split peas

3 green onions, thinly sliced

Directions:

Using paring knife, peel off and discard skin from ham hock. Trim off and discard fat. Set aside.

In Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-low heat; fry onion, carrots, celery, garlic, bay leaves, salt, pepper and ham hock, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes.

Add stock, peas and 2 cups (500 mL) water; bring to boil over medium-high heat, skimming off any foam. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat until peas break down and meat is tender enough to fall off hock, about 1-3/4 hours.

Remove ham hock; pull off and shred meat. Set meat aside. Discard ham bone and bay leaves. In blender, puree half of the soup; return to pot along with meat. Or use an immersion blender right in the pot after removing the ham hock. (Make-ahead: Let cool for 30 minutes. Transfer to container and refrigerate, uncovered, until cold. Cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Reheat to serve.) Ladle into bowls; garnish with green onions.

Production notes:

You can use water instead of chicken stock. In fact I prefer it to the chemically taste of bought chicken stock. Next time you cook chicken breasts and have a few extra minutes, bone the breasts, put into a pot with a carrot an onion, cut in half, a stalk of celery,1 tsp salt (approx) a few peppercorns and cover with water. Bring to a boil on Medium high and skim on foam. Reduce heat and keep at a simmer for about an hour. I give the green onions a miss.

Canadian Living Magazine: February 2007

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