Goat stew for Easter.

A bit late.. but I got some good halal goat in OPKS. The recipe was originally for lamb.

MOROCCAN GOAT STEW

FOR THE GOAT

1 tbspn olive oil,  750g goat shoulder, cut into 4-5cm cubes

Halal goat

1 onion, finely diced,  4 garlic cloves, crushed,  1 can plum tomatoes, chopped, 1 cinnamon stick (optional)

30g dried apricots, roughly chopped, pinch of saffron, goat or lamb stock or water

FOR THE SPICE MIXTURE

1 tspn ground cumin, 1 tspn ground coriander, 1 tspn ground ginger,1.5 tspn smoked paprika, 1 tspn turmeric, Half tspn ground chilli

Salt and freshly ground pepper

seasoned goat meat

TO GARNISH

4 tbspn finely chopped coriander, Half-1 tspn of Harissa paste, zest and juice of half a lemon, 1 tbspn honey

SERVE WITH

300gm pumpkin, peeled, chopped into 1-2cm cubes and roasted in olive oil with a little seasoning.

METHOD

Place the olive oil in a large saucepan or casserole pan and put it over a moderate-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the onion to the pan and sweat for one minute until transparent.

Place all the spice mixture ingredients in a bowl and mix together. Toss the goat in the spices so that it is well coated.

Add the spiced goat and garlic to the pan and seal the goat on all sides so that it is browned.

Stir in the chopped tomatoes, cinnamon stick, apricots, saffron and enough stock to just cover the goat. Bring to the oil then reduce to a slow simmer. Leave the goat to cook for 1-1.5 hours or until the meat is tender, stirring regularly with a wooden spoon (add more stock or water if the liquid is below the goat). (You can do this on top of the stove or in the oven. If the stew is too watery, drain off the excess liquid into a saucepan and reduce until thickened. Then return to the stew.

Stir in 3 tblspns of the chopped coriander, harissa paste (more or less to taste), lemon zest, juice and honey.

Garnish with roasted pumpkin and scatter over remaining coriander

In progress

Easter dinner

TEXAS MONTHLY now has a barbecue editor!

From the NY Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/24/us/texas-monthly-hires-full-time-barbecue-editor.html?hpw

crankin’ away

and a scene I painted taken from a photo taken by a pal of mine, Mike Farmer. It’s at Kreuz Market in Lockhart, TX

Altercation at the counter

Fish Stew..

A version from a Martha Rose Schulman recipe. Clam juice, clams, Alaskan codpieces, white wine, saffron, mild Rotel Tomatoes & green chiles.. Feb 23, 2013..

I’m not that impressed with Trader Joe’s frozen fish.

Carne Guisada January 13, 2013

Yesterday I decided to make a beef stew, which turned out as a form of carne guisada.

• 1.5 lbs beef stew meat in ~ 3/4″ cubes. (You could use pork, lamb, goat, venison, or elk here)
• 1/2 cup ~  chorizo (if dried Spanish.. chop it up, if Mexican, w/o casing) I used Chorizo Seco from El Torito #2 in KCKS.
• 1 tbs olive oil (or bacon drippings or canola oil)
• 2 medium yellow onions chopped 1/2″
• 3 shallots sliced thinly
• 3 cloves garlic (chopped, crushed, whatever..)
• 1 red bell pepper chopped roughly
• 1 green bell pepper chopped roughly
• 6-8 tomatillos, husked & quartered
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 3-4 small russet potatoes cut into 8ths.
• 2 corn tortillas torn to bits (these are for both flavor and thickening)
• 1 tsp tomato paste
• 1/2 tsp epazote
• 2 tsp Mexican oregano
• 2 tbs chopped cilantro
• 1/2 tsp Penzey’s Bonnes Herbes Parisienne (the end of a jar of this stuff I had)
• 1 tsp ground chile ancho
• 1/2 tsp chile caribe or crushed red pepper
• 1 tsp minced chile serrano  (I could add more chile, but my mother-in-law eats with us)
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 bottle of beer
• stock to cover (I used chicken stock this time)
• salt to taste

Heat oil in large stewpot. Brown/render chorizo on low heat. Add beef and brown slowly.. when partially browned, add onions, shallots, garlic, epazote, mexican oregano, bay leaf, cumin and chiles. Stir regularly. As the onions finish, add bell peppers and have them soften. Add tomatillos, tomato paste, carrots, and potatoes. Add beer and stock as needed. (You could be hoity-toity and use white wine. But you don’t have to.)
Bring to a low boil, add torn-up corn tortillas, and cilantro, stir, and lower to a simmer, cover and let cook for at least two hours.

Good with bolillos (french bread) or cornbread.

Carne guisada Jan. 13, 2013

Crossing the Border.

My wife’s job is moving to Kansas, 25 miles away. So we are moving to be only 2 miles from her work, rather than 25. We tried to find a place in Missouri without many steps and on the first floor since we have her mum with and she uses a walker. Hello Overland Park/Leawood!

I will at least be able to walk to the grocery store. In this area, there are two Whole Paychecks within 3 miles of each other. The closest one caters to rich hippies (more schnozz jewelery and lurid tattoos); they other is a haven for soccer moms who seem to be mainly tall Skandahoovian women. There is also a Dean & DeLuca, which is even more insanely expensive than Whole Paycheck. Hen House, a local chain, is more reasonable, and even has a whole kosher butcher shop and a wider selection of fresh sea food than the others I have mentioned.

There are also S. Asian greengrocers and halal butcher shops in the area. Olathe or KCKS is where I shall go to get my ingredients for comida mejicana.

A recent painting of mine.

“Who would believe they would freak out in Kansas, Suzy Creamcheese…” Frank Zappa.

Rheinlander, in Independence, MO

I had the bratwurst plate last night.. great German-style brats and the best home made sauerkraut that I have had in years. It had little juniper berries in it.

Daß schmeckt gut.

I had a wonderful Spaten Oktoberfest with this.

Okra-Corn Maque-Choux

Lots of fresh corn, okra, tomatoes, & peppers are available now in KCMO.

Two links of italian sausage, skinned
one chopped medium onion (I used red onion) {one could use shallots, I reckon}
two crushed cloves of garlic
1 tbs olive oil
Cut corn from 3 ears of fresh sweet corn
1 cup of chopped okra
1 cup of chopped tomatoes
1 cup of chopped peppers ( I used red & “yaller” peppers and about a tbs of minced jalapeño, or more, si tu quieres)
1 tbs Mexican oregano
1 bay leaf

Chopping okra

Aerial view of maque-choux

 

 

c’est fini!

Serve with rice.