Caribbean Curry Goat

My free range butcher Farmer's Choice has delivered some fine Goat meat today and I am going to make Curry Goat. I have never eaten Goat before, but I love new things to cook and try and I am very excited.

This dish is very special to the people in the Caribbean, so I will endeavor to do it justice!

I am searching the internet, reading cookbooks and have been asking people to reveal the secret of this dish. Once my search is done, I will cook and experience another first! And I cannot wait! 

It is the middle of the night and after some extensive research, I decided to marinate my meat right now.

There are several ways of doing this. Starting with the much debated washing of the meat in a vinegar and water solution. It is a tradition commonly used in the Caribbean to 'clean' the meat. Any citric liquid will do a good job of cleaning and preserving, I know that for sure. However, when I was doing my butchery month as a chef's aprentice, I remember asking about washing the meat and the butcher told me never to wash meat in water as it will breed germs. So it's not something I would do. Water with a citric solution is different though, as is water with salt for brining.

The next step is to make the marinade. My Curry Goat is going to have a wet marinade with all the ingredients blended in. Some other recipes will use just a few of the ingredients and add some more later during the cooking. I am trying this method today as it is easy and makes sense to me.

I start by toasting my curry powder in a dry and smooth non stick pan. This is important as it will eliminate the raw taste of the spices and bring out all the good aromas instead. My flat now smells very much of toasted Curry Powder though and I suspect even the neighbors will get a good whiff of it. Sorry everyone!

I added this to the rest of the ingredients waiting in the blender.

Ingredients:

1kg Goat stewing meat with bone, most of the fat removed

1 liter of your finest Water or light Chicken or Vegetable Stock (I made fresh Chicken stock yesterday, so I will use that, of course)

1 pretty Scotch Bonnet Pepper to add whole to the pot.

Marinade:

3 heaped tsp Curry Powder (choose your favorite Indian or West Indian blend), toasted

1 Scotch Bonnet Pepper

4 Garlic Cloves

1/2 Onion

1 inch piece fresh Ginger

1 tsp Thyme

20 All Spice Berries or 1/2 tsp ground All Spice (I have flown my All Spice Berries in from Jamaica especially ;-)

4 Cherry Tomatoes or 1 regular Tomato

1 tsp Sea Salt

a good few grinds from the Peppermill

about 100ml Water

I have now coated the Meat in the marinade, covered with clingfilm and they're all sitting in the fridge getting to know each other and hopefully having a good time. Maybe I will put my ipod in the fridge and play some Reggae music for them.

And now I am going back to bed. Good night.

...
So, it is now the early afternoon and I have completed my dish. I have also eaten it and it was finger licking, mouth watering, going for seconds, good.
Here is what I did.

First I browned the marinated Goat pieces in a heavy pan, taking one lot out then browning the next until all are done.
I then returned them all to the pot and poured over the remaining marinade as well as the 1 liter of chicken stock. This I brought to a simmer and covered to cook low and slow for 1 1/2 hours.  After about half an hour I dropped in the whole Scotch Bonnet Pepper and left the lid slightly askew to let some of the gravy reduce and thicken in time

.
Meanwhile I made Rice and peas to go along with it.
I will post the recipe in a separate blog entree and add a link here once I'm done.
Now there was nothing left to do but listen to some Bob Marley and wait.

Until finally I was rewarded with my Curry Goat. I think I really like the taste of goat. It's so tender and delicate yet full of flavor. I am so glad I made this. Another fantastic dish discovered!

Easy and delicious Summer Fruit Cake

It's the height of the Summer Season and the trees are beginning to bear perfectly ripened fruit. I have been watching the Victoria plums in my Boyfriend's Mum's garden for a while and now they are finally ready! Sweet and juicy on the inside and just the right tartness on the outside

I have a wonderfully easy, yet very delicious cake recipe from Germany, that is perfect for them. It's also great with Apples, Pears, Gooseberries, Blackberries or Cherries.

This is one I made last year with the Apples my neighbour gave us. It didn't last long...

So here is the Recipe. Get a neighbour, collegue, family member or friend's friend's mother's dentist's son to give you some freshly picked fruit. Wash and stone or core or deseed fruit and cut into largish Chunks.

Ingredients:
4 Eggs
9 tbs plain Flour
9 tbs Caster Sugar
9 tbs Sunflower Oil
1 heaped tsp Baking powder
a few drops Vanilla Extract
Fruit of your Choice
1 handful of flaked Almonds (optional, depending on fruit)

With an electric Mixer beat the Eggs and Sugar until the Sugar has dissolved.
Sieve the Flour and Baking powder into the Egg Mixture and mix again on a slower speed.
Mix in the Oil and Vanilla Extract until all is smooth and creamy.

 

Arrange the fruit in a shallow baking dish, lined with baking parchment, either randomly or in a pattern depending on type of fruit :-)

As I am using these marvellous Victoria Plums today, I have halved them taken out the stone and layed them cut side down.

Nest pour over the cake mixture.

Now bake the cake in a 150C oven for about 50 minutes. Testing with a wooden skewer. Prik the cake in the middle and see if the skewer comes out dry and clean. It's ready! If it's still wet or has cake mixture sticking to it, return to the oven for 5- 10 more minutes. 

TOP TIP: Always close the oven door, while doing food testing ect., otherwise you will loose essential heat from the oven and the cooking process will change completely.

I wish you could smell the aroma wafting from my kitchen right now. Oh it makes me so proud and happy! I want to open all the windows so that everyone can smell it :-)

 

Leave the cake to cool before cutting. Then let you imagination guide you. Dust with Icing sugar maybe, add cream, custard, creme anglaise, creme fraiche or eat it just as it is.

Looking at my picture now, I think maybe to make it a little more sophisticated it could have a base. I will think about how to incorporate one. Meanwhile please feel free to give me some ideas.

'Sweetwood Jerk Joint' Kingston Jamaica

Sometimes the best food is found in the places where you wouldn't normally even want to venture. I have said this before and I'm sure it will be true many times in the future.

We all know Jerk Chicken is the most famous of the Caribbean dishes. But have you ever tasted the real authentic thing? Because Jerk is not a seasoning or a dry rub or a sauce you dip into. Jerk is a method of BBQ'ing, that involves a marinade and a BBQ which has Sweetwood and Pimento Wood branches as major flavour and smoke components.

The branches lay accross the BBQ and the meat is placed on top. It takes 2-3 hours for a chicken to be cooked this way and obviously a lot longer for a whole side of pork. The smoky flavour that you get from cooking slowly over the wood branches cannot be replicated. In fact the meat doesn't just roast, it actually becomes smoked somewhat. After tasting it done this way once, there will be no comparison ever again.

The meat is served chopped up with a heavy cleaver. There is a Roasted Scotch Bonnet Pepper dressing condiment at the 'hole in the wall' window, where you pick up your food, that maybe too hot to handle for  some of us, but it is complex and delicious.

The meat is tender and juicy and smokey and spicy and heavy with aroma of Pimento and Thyme and Scotch Bonnet, and it is soooo good!

There must be several of these authentic Jerk Centres in Jamaica, each with their own secret recipe marinade, but I have discovered the 'Sweetwood Jerk Joint' in Kingston, a small outdoor eatery with a welcoming scent luring you in, friendly service and divine BBQ meats. Pork, Chicken, Lamb, Sausages and Fish served with the usual suspects of Rice & Peas, Festival, Roast Sweet Potato or simply Bread. They also do soup, which apparently is just called Broth, and I haven't figured out what's in it yet. Meat and vegetables they tell me, that is all. Another mystery to be solved yet I reckon.

The Sweetwood Jerk Joint is located at 78 Knutsford Blvd, by the Emancipation Park. They do not have a website, but you can 'like' them on Facebook

For my recipe of delicious Jerk Chicken check out this blog entry: Jerk Chicken