Monday, February 4, 2013

Pete the Goat Stew

I named this recipe in honor of Pete the Goat of another blog.  When I was researching how to cook goat I ran across a recipe written by someone that owns a farm.  They had a goat named Pete that then fed their family for many many meals.  As the farmer/cook said "Pete is delicious!"

This is the first time I have eaten goat even though it is the most consumed meat on the planet (goats are easy to raise).  And I must agree with the farmer/cook, goat is delicious!  In fact it is my new favorite meat.

It tastes even milder than lamb so it can be easily overpowered by strong flavors, which I found out the hard way.  I added celeriac to the stew and it was too strong.  I recommend staying away from parsnips, turnips and celeriac for this reason. Stick with mild root vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, kohlrabi and mild onions.   If you feel like experimenting, you could add butternut squash or sweet potatoes but for me this would make it too sweet.

 Too add color to this stew buy colored root vegetables.  I had yellow carrots and Adirondack Blue potatoes on hand.  This adds some nice color to what could be a rather beige stew.

Ingredients
serves 3-4

2c Basic Chicken Stock
~2-4c filtered water
1lb goat chops with bones
1 medium red onion
1 clove garlic
1t Celtic or Himalayan salt
~6 peppercorns
1t dried thyme or 1-2 sprigs of fresh
Root veg of choice:
1 large carrot
1-2 leek leaves
1 medium potato
1/2 kohlrabi

  1. Peel and cut onion into 1/8ths.  Peel and mash garlic.  Add to stock pot or dutch oven along with meat.
  2. Add stock to pot and then use enough water to cover contents with about an inch of liquid.
  3. Add peppercorns, salt and thyme.
  4. Cover pot and put on low simmer and cook for two hours.
  5. Peel and chop root vegetables into bite size pieces.  Add to pot and stir in.  Add more water if needed to cover contents.
  6. Cook for another hour at a simmer with lid off.  
Note: This could also be made in a slow cooker.  Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8 hours.