Goat

[JonK]

I recently was discharged from the hospital after surgery and am recovering at home...which is by way of explaining why I did not accompany my beloved wife to the farmers market last Saturday.

Amongst other items, she returned with a goat leg, and smiling in that way spouses do, asked me how we were going to cook it. Goat leg is not in Julia's "The Way to Cook".

The first thing we tried was making kabobs, marinating chunks of the goat meat in a mint and rosemary marinade and grilling them over a charcoal fire with the usual veggies. They tasted great, but my jaw was painfully tired by the diner dinner was over. Goat is chewy--or at least this one was.

This suggested to us that there must be other, more optimal ways to prepare goat meat. We still have several pounds left (goat legs aren't small) and would welcome any suggestions from those who may have had some experience with this critter.

[Suzanne]

We just talked about goat here. The main comment was: tough so braising or stewing works well. Especially in a curry. I love goat roti (curried goat wrapped in Trini/Jamaican flatbread that's stuffed with yellow peas).

edited to add: Hope you're feeling better!

[Mannlicher]

A couple of ideas. You can parboil it, and then grill it. A spicy Jamaican rub works well with goat. Cut little slits in the meat and rub the spices into the cuts.
Slow oven cooking at low temp, say around 225 gives a more tender meat. I first rub the goat with a mixture of garlic, olive oil, kosher salt, and black peppercorns. I grind that up with a mortar and pestle, and then rub it into the meat before it goes in the oven. Depending on the weight, I will cook it up to 8 hours.

[bigwheel]

The Tejas method for cooking the tough old critters is..smoke em up on the pit for a while hour or so..then wrap em in the New England Crutch aka Reynolds wrap along with some beer..butter..onyawns..wooster and whutever else you got laying around..then you can either stick it back on the pit or in the oven at about 240 or so..and cook it till it dies and gives up...tenders up enough to suit ya in other words. Let it go too long and you can eat it with a spoon. Works on any just about any kind of cantankerous no fat type critters such as wild hawgs coyotes..greyhounds bambi etc.

bigwheel

Originally Posted by JonK

I recently was discharged from the hospital after surgery and am recovering at home...which is by way of explaining why I did not accompany my beloved wife to the farmers market last Saturday.

Amongst other items, she returned with a goat leg, and smiling in that way spouses do, asked me how we were going to cook it. Goat leg is not in Julia's "The Way to Cook".

The first thing we tried was making kabobs, marinating chunks of the goat meat in a mint and rosemary marinade and grilling them over a charcoal fire with the usual veggies. They tasted great, but my jaw was painfully tired by the diner dinner was over. Goat is chewy--or at least this one was.

This suggested to us that there must be other, more optimal ways to prepare goat meat. We still have several pounds left (goat legs aren't small) and would welcome any suggestions from those who may have had some experience with this critter.

[diane]

Now Bigwheel, behave, or I shall pummel you with great vigour. I have had goat only once, but am thinking that it must be like any other animal. Young, tender..... Old tough. Ours was tenderish, and of good flavour. I found it somewhat fibrous, long strands of meat, except were it was cut across. I would have it again, but be much more careful how I chose it. And how I chose to cook it. We can only get it here from Halal butcher shops.

[bigwheel]

Well you right on the money. In these parts o the world the young tender models is called Cabritos. Now if any has seen a baby goat in the petting zoo I dont know how they could have the heart to think about eating it. They just too cute. Now when they get much mo bigga than a minature french poodle..they is so tough it hard to stick a fork in the gravy. That is where the tinfoil come in handy..or like Mannlicker say about the only other choice is the parboiling thing. Up in Wilbarger County they have a fella who is a professional goat cooker by the name of Arly Gant (who could be passed by now for all I know) but anytime some farmer want to put on a goat feed for their pals they would hire Arly to come cook the goats. He would start out with a huge cauldron of simmering water into which had been dumped the juice off two gallon cans of pickled japs. He then throw the quartered up goats down in there and let it chuckle away till they got tender..then he drag em out and smoke em up on the pit for a while. Thataway works too.

bigwheel

Originally Posted by diane

Now Bigwheel, behave, or I shall pummel you with great vigour. I have had goat only once, but am thinking that it must be like any other animal. Young, tender..... Old tough. Ours was tenderish, and of good flavour. I found it somewhat fibrous, long strands of meat, except were it was cut across. I would have it again, but be much more careful how I chose it. And how I chose to cook it. We can only get it here from Halal butcher shops.

[Mezzaluna]

two gallon cans of pickled japs

I will assume this means "jalapeno peppers".....

[bigwheel]

Correctomundo my friend. Habs is the common abbreviation for Habanerios just to avoid any future cornfusion of terminologies. I would have said Japalenos but I wasnt sure how to speel it right and this other fella on here has been naggin about my speeling. I did not want to risk speeling it wrong. I like to try and obey the rules ya know?

bigwheel

Originally Posted by Mezzaluna

I will assume this means "jalapeno peppers".....

[JonK]

Thank you all. I knew I could count on getting some good ideas. We'll give them a try.

JonK

[bigwheel]

Ok..think you has bound to have figgerd out it be much mo betta to take the goat money and go buy cow parts or whutever. Hope you recovery continuteth in an increaseing upward spiral and got you added to my prayer list if you dont mind Do not eat baby goats. I am fixing to buy one to hang out in the backyard so I dont have to mow grass. They say you turn a couple loose out there it be like pro landscapers on duty 24/7. It has made a believer outta me. I gonna try a female pygmy. They pets just like dawgs from whut I can figger out. Got a 7 year old grandaughter who just cant wait. Course we got to fix the fence and the old Rotty got to die etc. This is some prerequisites from the warden. Hope you dont let any wimmen boss you around as like to which I have become accoustomed. Kindly keep us posted on the health stuff. Thanks.

bigwheel

Originally Posted by JonK

Thank you all. I knew I could count on getting some good ideas. We'll give them a try.

JonK

[MuskyHopeful]

Today's weather. See goats.

Kevin

[JonK]

Big Wheel: you might enjoy Stan Freeberg's classic television commercial from the 60s (I think) in which he pits a sheep or goat against the Lawn Boy mower to prove once and for all that "Lawn Boy is faster than Sheep" (or goat).

At the close of the commercial, Freeberg asks the homeowner if he's going to have a little roast leg of lamb now that the test is over, to which the homeowner replies (sheepishly, no doubt), "Gee, no, it'd be a bit like eating your gardner."

And no, we're not buying any more goat, just looking to use up what we have in the freezer. This critter had a big leg.

(I'd better stop--we're getting a bit off board topic here.)

[juju375]

Thank you all....I really was thinking about using the cuts for a driveway.
Thank you again. I will try your suggestions.

[AprilB]

I got a couple to "help" with taking care of an acre of green weeds, grasses and etc. After a few weeks we still had weeds et all and the goats had eaten every branch off of our trees as far up as they could reach.

They also loved my garden.

So much for the assumption that a goat will eat anything.

Oh, and someone gave me a Billy. Yeah...kept him 2 1/2 acres away and ...yeah...OMG!

April

Originally Posted by bigwheel

Ok..think you has bound to have figgerd out it be much mo betta to take the goat money and go buy cow parts or whutever. Hope you recovery continuteth in an increaseing upward spiral and got you added to my prayer list if you dont mind Do not eat baby goats. I am fixing to buy one to hang out in the backyard so I dont have to mow grass. They say you turn a couple loose out there it be like pro landscapers on duty 24/7. It has made a believer outta me. I gonna try a female pygmy. They pets just like dawgs from whut I can figger out. Got a 7 year old grandaughter who just cant wait. Course we got to fix the fence and the old Rotty got to die etc. This is some prerequisites from the warden. Hope you dont let any wimmen boss you around as like to which I have become accoustomed. Kindly keep us posted on the health stuff. Thanks.

bigwheel

[cookie jim]

JoeK; I would make a curry flavored bechmel(whit sauce),throw the critter in a crok pot,I have a 6 qt for lamb,set it and forget it.10 to 12 hrs.should take the tuff out of it.I would add sliced carrot and fresh or frozen,not canned,peas to it. Sometimes with lamb I rub the roast with a mix of olive oil,minced garlic and rosemary,put canned stewed tomatoes around roast.cooks in the same time above...good cookin...cookie