Kid goat is not as exotic as some of the meats Ill be trying during this Exotic Meats Taste Test challenge, but nevertheless, its a meat Ive never tried before. Ive cooked goat in curries but never the goaty equivalent of lamb so I decided to treat it in exactly the same way as the latter, first marinating these steaks in olive oil, garlic, lemon and rosemary, and then cooking them rare on the hob.
Im afraid this was a bit of a mistake. The meat itself was delicious almost beefy in flavour but it was very chewy, quite tough and sinewy.
Fortunately, I had the foresight to keep one of the steaks back and decided to try it cooked low and slow in my slow cooker for 3-4 hours, in lamb stock and a glug of white wine. The results were incredible: the meat was fall-apart tender and the flavour was long, deep and very, very reminiscent of the beefiest of steaks. A victory snatched from the jaws of defeat.
The kid goat I cooked is Boer goat, bred by Chestnut Meats in Cheshire, and sold through Alternative Meats. Ive served it with a Mediterranean cous cous.
Serves 2
2 kid goat steaks
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
2 garlic cloves, crushed
Leaves from 1 sprig rosemary, chopped
Glug of olive oil
300ml lamb stock
1 glass white wine
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the cous cous
200g cous cous
100ml boiling water
1 tbsp olive oil
Half red pepper, deseeded and diced
Half yellow/orange pepper, deseeded and diced
1 tbsp mint leaves, chopped
50g feta cheese, cubed
1. Put the steaks, lemon, garlic, rosemary and olive oil in a freezer bag and massage the meat so that the flavours infuse it. Put in the fridge to marinate overnight.
2. For the quick-cook version (if this floats your boat), heat a large frying pan. Remove the steaks from the freezer bag and shake off the excess marinade. Cook the steaks for approx. 5 mins each side. Remove and leave to rest for 2-3 mins before carving into thick slices.
3. For the slow cooked version, sear the steaks on both sides in a hot frying pan. Transfer to a slow cooker with the stock and wine and cook on LOW for 3-4 hours, until the meat is fall-apart tender.
4. To make the cous cous. Put the cous cous in a bowl, then add the boiling water and stir through. Leave to stand for 5 mins. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and cook the peppers for 4-5 mins until tender. Fluff up the cous cous with a fork and stir through the peppers and cheese.
5. Slice the kid goat into thick strips and serve with the cous cous, green salad, and gravy made from the stock and meat juices.
¢ This is a modified recipe from The Exotic Meat Cookbook available on iPad from the Friday Project).
¢ Alternative Meats sent me the ingredients to cook with but I have not been paid for this post.
