Billy goat gruff

This week I bought a goat shoulder from Manchester market in the Arndale.  This is close to work and is a pretty good butcher.  The cut of meat was not quite what I expected, rather than a "square" lamb shoulder, this cut of meat was more of a blade end of shoulder plus some neck chops (scrag end, where I'm from).  No mind, this is still perfect for what I had in mind for this meat.  Tonight we have a goat curry (Indian style) prepared by the Yorkshire lass.

I cubed the meat and saved the bones.  All will be used in thus curry.


Spice mix - I don't tend to mess with these rough measurements much, except to adjust the heat.
1.5 tsp freshly crushed (with a good pinch of sea salt) coriander seeds
1.5 tsp freshly crushed (with a good pinch of sea salt) cumin seeds
A couple of bay leaves
0.5 tsp black pepper corns
4-6 cardamom pods
1-2 dried chillis, crushed
0.5 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric

A little oil
2 x medium onion, 1 shredded, 1 diced
2/3 cloves garlic
Lamb / Goat Meat of your a stewing cut such as shoulder, ideally including bones cubed into mouth-size chunks.

4/6 fresh large tomatoes, or 1.5 cans chopped tomatoes
3 good handfuls of Lentils, Yellow and / or Red (red will just vanish, so do use a mixture)

Spinach; as much or as little as you like. I wouldn't omit this, as I think it's pretty fundamental, but if you don't like it.....
Further veg of your choosing (mushrooms are always good, fine beans, but anything goes here)
Bunch of fresh coriander, stalks chopped fairly fine, leaves roughly chopped.
Fresh chillis as required


Method

1. Oil and all spices in on a medium heat, fry until fragrant, add onions and garlic, and fry to soften. Add meat and bones, and colour these. Add 1.5 pints of water (to just cover meat), pop on a lid and leave for a minimum of 1.5 hours on a lowish heat. The longer the better, to get really tender meat. 

2. Add lentils now, and coriander stalks, along with your tomatoes. Take off the lid, and simmer, making sure it doesn't dry out. This stage can take from 45 mins to as long as you have. 
If you want to make it a day ahead, leave it at this stage. 
3. Finishing touches; when you are nearly ready to serve, throw in the prepared veg you have chosen, along with any chilli or further salt you want to add. Allow the veg to cook through to desired crunchiness. Chuck in the spinach and the coriander leaves (save some for garnish), wilt and mix those in, warn through and you're done. 
Serve with raita, chopped coriander, bread of your choice, and a cold beer. 

Goat is an excellent meat for this type of preparation, a bit tougher and richer than lamb (and about half the price) try and seek this out.  Indian or Caribbean shops and butchers will usually have some goat on sale.  I must get a lamb's leg to try a roast or turn into steaks.

Pousin, Done

This weekend, on the menu, it is Poussin.

The Yorkshire girl and I discussed at some length as to whether the Poussin is a different breed or just a baby chicken. Well disappointingly it is just a baby chicken. The ones we bought said " slow reared for a better flavour", you go figure!

Because it was Friday and I was hungry, a simple approach was taken to cooking these small birds.

The Poussin were put in a baking dish with potatoes, Olive oil, lemon juice, Garlic, salt and pepper and roasted in the oven for 45ish minutes at 230 degrees. Served with baby veg.

Well what about the taste? Surprisingly it tasted just like chicken! There are some points of note though. This Poussin did taste particularly tasty, whether this was it's young age (normally a factor against flavour) or it's "slow rearing" i don't know.

The birds are perfectly man sized. One Poussin per hungry man is about perfect.

Due to size, and the fact you can cook it hotter and quicker, you get crispier skin (and more of it per unit volume of meat).

And again thanks to the above reason, the meat was cooked perfectly, while the cartilage was still quite tough.  On a well cooked chicken the cartilage can sometime drop off with the meat. This matters to the Yorkshire girl, who is not a fan of all things gristly or fatty.

All in all very good. Will buy again (2 for a fiver at the nations market leading supermarket).

Poussin. Done.

Next up: The Yorkshire Girl's Goat curry.

A Meat feast

OK, and some deliberation I have come up with a list of meats that I believe to be available and legal.  If by some chance I was in Korea or China and had the chance to eat cat or dog, I would.

The list below, at my count include 53 separate meats, even though I may need to hit a number of separate insects to hit the target.  I will try to make them as interesting as possible on the journey.

Anything else anyone can think of would be appreciated.

(Crossed out items are complete)

Animal
Horse
Donkey

Beef
Bull
Veal

Pork
suckling pig
Wild Boar

Lamb
Mutton
Hoggart

Goat

venison
Reindeer

Squirrel

Rabbit
Hare

Kangaroo
kudu
Springbok
Ostrich
Blesbok
Wildebeest
Bison
Crocodile
Zebra
Impala
Buffalo


Bird

Guinea fowl
woodcock
pigeon
quail
pheasant
Partridge
Grouse
Ptarmigan
Snipe
Cappercaile
Plover

Chicken
Poussin

Goose
Duck

turkey
Capon

Ostrich
Emu

Reptile


Crocodile
Alligator
Snake


Other
Frogs
Snails
Insects

Camargue Bull meat

As I mentioned in my last post, I am (was) on holiday in the south of France, specifically Nimes.  The Nimoise and the people of the Gard region of France seem to have an obsession with the Bull.

This extends from breeding the famous Camargue bull for fighting, in the Nimes Feria, Bull racing, and also for eating.

It seemed somewhat rude not to partake in this local speciality.  I this case I had a bull steak (or Taureau) with chips.  Not very refined, I know, but possibly the best way to taste these things.

I have to say it was good, a little darker than your common or garden supermarket beef steak and maybe a little "older" tasting.

This isn't overly surprising as a proportion of the beef we eat in the UK, is male cow that is the offspring of a milk cow and a meat Bull.

I guess, and this is a guess, that the difference is that the age of the male bull is older in the Taureau case to develop the the characteristics of a bull, such as horns etc.

As I didn't cook I can't provide the recipe, can can probably work this one out for yourself, but instead I do provide a Bull recipe, a Gard speciality.

Gardiane de Taureau

Ingredients - For 6

• 1.5 kg of Bull meat (or beef)
• 6 Carrots
• 2 Onions
• Some stoned prunes
• 3l Red wine
• a good handful or 2 of black Olives
• Bay leaves, thyme, salt and pepper
• The chopped peel of an orange
• A double measure of Cartagene wine (Difficult to find, I would suggest replacing with brandy)
• Olive oil 

Put the pieces of bull, sliced carrots, prunes and onions in a bowl and leave overnight in a marinade made from the wine, cartagene, salt, pepper, herbs and orange peel.

On the day of serving:

Remove the meat from the marinade, drain well and brown well in the olive oil.  Once golden, add the juice from the marinate (leaving the solids to one side) to the mean and leave to cook for 2.5 hours.  This can be done either on the hob or in the oven.

To finish, add the solids and cook for 30 minutes.

Serve with Camargue rice for authenticity.

Open Season

Today is the glorius twelfth. The first day of the game season in the UK for some species of wild game. So to complete my challenge, you can expect me to be eating quite a lot of game in the next couple of months.


UK Game seasons


Red Grouse 12 August - 10 December

Ptarmigan 12 August - 10 December

Snipe 12 August - 31 January

Black Game 20 August - 10 December

Partridge 1 September - 1 February

Wild Duck and Geese (Inland) 1 September - 31 January

Wild Duck & Geese (Below high water mark) 1 September - 20 February

Mallard, Teal, Widgeon 1 September - 31 January

Capercaillie 1 October - 31 January

Woodcock 1 October - 31 January

Pheasant 1 October - 1 February


Deer

Roe Buck 1 April - 31 October

Roe Doe 1 November - 28/29 February