Goat meat stew

[Slarti]

On impulse we bought a pound of diced goat leg meat because we've enjoyed the various goat stews we've had abroad.

Been doing a bit of searching for a suitable recipe that isn't curry and keep coming across stews that have a lot of red wine. Unfortunately we can't use red wine as it gives Mrs s severe migraine, even if she doesn't know it was in the dish.

In general, would it work swapping out the red wine and using white?

Slarti

[JMN2]

Why not use beer as in Carbonnade Flamand? Any beer, a bit sugar to offset bitterness and stock. Or, Italians have this pork stew in chicken/pork stock, cream and sage.

[redsturgeon]

On impulse we bought a pound of diced goat leg meat because we've enjoyed the various goat stews we've had abroad.

Been doing a bit of searching for a suitable recipe that isn't curry and keep coming across stews that have a lot of red wine. Unfortunately we can't use red wine as it gives Mrs s severe migraine, even if she doesn't know it was in the dish.

In general, would it work swapping out the red wine and using white?

Slarti

Yes it would be fine, coq au vin for instance can be made with either.

John

[Slarti]

Thanks for the responses.

A while after I posted, my son discovered another version of a recipe that I had seen which said red or rose wine, so I was thinking of going that route, but white would be safer for Mrs S.

Unless we go Jamaican, which seems to be what others are thinking of.
Though I'd rather try and replicate something that we've already had.

We'll see.

Slarti

[sg31]

Chanfana is a great Portuguese goat and red wine dish. Wonderful, I would strongly recommend it to anyone who doesn't have a problem with red wine.

I don't think it would work well with white wine instead of red, the dish wouldn't have the depth it requires and the seasoning would need to change. It might be possible to pinch Nobbies idea of using a porter type beer like Mackeson which isn't over hopped. Tesco do a couple of West Indian dark beers which may work, I've got one of them in the cupboard at present to use with beef to see if it works. (Guinness West Indian Porter, I suspect it will be too hoppy)

I bought a couple of legs of goat a couple of years ago to see what they tasted like, Personally I can't see much difference to lamb as far as taste goes. These days I'd just buy lamb unless the goat was considerably cheaper.

[Urbandreamer]

I bought a couple of legs of goat a couple of years ago to see what they tasted like, Personally I can't see much difference to lamb as far as taste goes. These days I'd just buy lamb unless the goat was considerably cheaper.

Do you mean lamb? Lamb and Mutton despite being the same animal taste quite different and I'm surprised that you would compare goat to the less strongly flavoured meat. However as I've not managed to find someone selling goat in my area I'm only guessing.

[Slarti]

Do you mean lamb? Lamb and Mutton despite being the same animal taste quite different and I'm surprised that you would compare goat to the less strongly flavoured meat. However as I've not managed to find someone selling goat in my area I'm only guessing.

If you are ever in the Maldon area, Bunting's in the High Street has started stocking goat recently.

Slarti

[JMN2]

I associate goat meat with people smuggling it to the UK in their suitcases from Africa. There were a couple of documentaries of it in the 90's, meat being rotten and sold in some butcher shops in East End.

[sg31]

I bought a couple of legs of goat a couple of years ago to see what they tasted like, Personally I can't see much difference to lamb as far as taste goes. These days I'd just buy lamb unless the goat was considerably cheaper.

Do you mean lamb? Lamb and Mutton despite being the same animal taste quite different and I'm surprised that you would compare goat to the less strongly flavoured meat. However as I've not managed to find someone selling goat in my area I'm only guessing.

I originally bought it to do a Nepali goat curry which turned out fine (as far as I can tell). I then used it for the Portuguese goat and wine dish mentioned earlier so the true taste of the meat was masked by the other ingredients to a large extent. I later did both dishes again with lamb and the results were indistinguishable to my taste buds and those of the other people who tasted both.

I never tried the goat as a roast in it's own right.

[redsturgeon]

I bought a couple of legs of goat a couple of years ago to see what they tasted like, Personally I can't see much difference to lamb as far as taste goes. These days I'd just buy lamb unless the goat was considerably cheaper.

Do you mean lamb? Lamb and Mutton despite being the same animal taste quite different and I'm surprised that you would compare goat to the less strongly flavoured meat. However as I've not managed to find someone selling goat in my area I'm only guessing.

I originally bought it to do a Nepali goat curry which turned out fine (as far as I can tell). I then used it for the Portuguese goat and wine dish mentioned earlier so the true taste of the meat was masked by the other ingredients to a large extent. I later did both dishes again with lamb and the results were indistinguishable to my taste buds and those of the other people who tasted both.

I never tried the goat as a roast in it's own right.

I have never cooked goat meat but the other day I had a goat curry in the local Indian restaurant ( cooked with Indian spices rather than a Caribbean style) and I would not have been able to tell it was not lamb.

I have had mutton curry and that definitely had a stronger flavour to me. Is it possible much of the goat meat on offer in the UK these days is from quite young goats and therefore more akin to lamb than mutton?

John

[swill453]

I have had mutton curry and that definitely had a stronger flavour to me. Is it possible much of the goat meat on offer in the UK these days is from quite young goats and therefore more akin to lamb than mutton?

They're probably young male goats that would otherwise have been disposed of at birth in the goat milk industry.

Scott.

[johnstevens77]

Lamb and mutton do taste very different. Hogget is a good substitute for relatively tasteless lamb.

john

[redsturgeon]

On impulse we bought a pound of diced goat leg meat because we've enjoyed the various goat stews we've had abroad.

Been doing a bit of searching for a suitable recipe that isn't curry and keep coming across stews that have a lot of red wine. Unfortunately we can't use red wine as it gives Mrs s severe migraine, even if she doesn't know it was in the dish.

In general, would it work swapping out the red wine and using white?

Slarti

How was it?

john

[Slarti]

How was it?

No where near as good as I would have liked.

The recipe I decided to go for seemed simple enough, but it must have had the cooking temperature wrong and I should have realised that there was no risk of it "getting dry"

As I had 1lb of meat, I used roughly 1/3 of the quantity of the other items and then put it in the over 3 1/2 hours before I wanted to serve with the intention of adding the potatoes for the last 30 minutes, which I did.

After 30 minutes the spuds were still basically raw, so i scooped them out and microwaved them for 5 minutes before putting them back while cooking the broccoli to go with it.

Ended up with a very thing stock/sauce left over and slightly tough meat.

If I do it again, rather than cooking on gas 1.5, I'll go for gas 2.5 and check the stock temperature after the 1st hour.

The overall flavour was OK but I'm glad I wasn't serving to anybody other than family.

Slarti
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Recipe

1.5kg goat meat (neck, shoulder or saddle. Keep the bones on, get it chopped into chunks the size of a tangerine)
4 tbsp olive oil (don’t stint on this, it keeps the stew moist)
5 crushed garlic cloves
1 teaspoon paprika
1 bayleaf
1 clove
A sprig of parsley
Salt and pepper
An entire bottle of wine (maybe minus a small glass for yourself as you prepare the dish). Bairrada is a good local choice, although Chanfana is often made and served with Dao.
700g potatoes
Directions

Marinate the meat in the wine, garlic, bay leaves, paprika for a night.

Using a lidded teracotta casserole dish, lay the meat at the bottom. You don’t need to brown the meat first. It ends up looking ugly, but tastes great. Add the olive oil, the clove, and everything else from the marinade.

With the lid on, place the casserole in a preheated oven at 145 degrees C. Leave it as long as you possibly can, but at least two hours. If it gets dry, add more wine, or a little water.

Peel and chop potatoes into large pieces. If there is still plenty of liquid left half an hour before you need the stew, put the potatoes directly into the pot. Otherwise, boil the spuds separately and add them 20 minutes before serving.

[redsturgeon]

Thanks Slarti,

The reason I asked was that I just cooked goat for the first time yesterday. I substituted it for lamb in a nihari curry and very nice it was too. I browned the goat before putting it in with the rest of the ingredients in a slow cooker for 6 hours. The goat was very very tender and delicious, certainly more like lamb than mutton.

John

[chilly123]

Hello Slarti,

I try your recipe but I am adding some Indian spices to it and it will become tastier.

[Slarti]

Hello Slarti,

I try your recipe but I am adding some Indian spices to it and it will become tastier.

My whole aim was to avoid any hint of Indian, which I find unpalatable and overpowering.

A minority view, I know, but there we go.


Slarti