Leg of Goat

TomM24 · February 2008

A new Hallal meat market opened in town thier sign advertised goat. I still miss the chivito I had in Argentina ten years ago so I went in. The goat was was bigger than I remember it but hey I was there so I bought a six pound hunk. It was about a 1/4 of a goat. Now I'm thinking my wife isn't going to eat this . I asked no surprise, no. So I go to work today and ask a Pakistani coworker who told me he bought 35 lb of goat the other day does it freeze well? He said this is what you do buy some tikka masala rub at a Indian store rub the leg with EVOO and the spice for 24 hours then freeze. Tomorrow I'll ask him how much to cook it but I doubt he'll know. The good news is I've got time. I have searched the archives not many goat cooks I'm thinking indirect slow maybe 250 -275 no additional smoke. Then mix up some more tikka masala as a sauce. If you live close I'll have plenty so let me know.

Eggtucky · February 2008

I've seen my dad cook it but it was on the stove...I do remember one thing..he always got kid goat because it was more tender..and he soaked it in salt water like deer or other game overnight before he cooked it....I seem to remember him par boiling it in vinegar also before baking, but I spose that is optional...good luck!

Beli · February 2008

Gosh I wished I lived closer.to you, then I´d be there in no time....cabrito...or chivito.....is our regional plate delicacy....here in Monterrey México.......comes from an old jewish tradition from Spain........Please do let me know the recipes you find for thr egg. TKS

TomM24 · February 2008

Beli:

I hoped you could help. In Argentina I think it was kid goat. I would have what looked like the back leg but it was much smaller but that was decade ago and by the time we ate it was midnight so my memeory is not that good. They are crazy there how long they work and how late they eat. From what I've seen on the web Mexican Cabrito looks like an older goat like mine. What do you reccommend for a final temperature or doneness for the cook. I usually like my meat rare including lamb.

PS Your yard and view are beautiful. One thing I know I won't be retiring in New Jersey.

Beli · February 2008

Hi there Tom, probably what you ate in Argentina was the paleta, (shoulder) which is after the legg, the piece with less fat.....here you find of course the roast goat - kid.

Cabrito is roast goat-kid. It is a regional specialty of the city of Monterrey, Mexico, (Where I was born & live) and the surrounding state of Nuevo Leon, based on the Jewish cuisine of the founders of the city. The goat should be about 3 months old. It is slow cooked over a charcoal fire for about 8 hours, turning it every 15- 20 minutes.

Also known as chivito, it's a regional specialty in the Córdoba Province in Argentina.

In northern Mexico, cabrito is cooked in a variety of ways.

The best known, and perhaps most popular form is “cabrito al pastor,” in which the whole carcass is opened flat and impaled with a metal spit. The spit is then placed next to a bed of glowing embers and roasted slowly in the open air without seasonings other than the light scent it will absorb from the slow-burning charcoal.

A modern variation is “cabrito al horno,” or oven-roasted cabrito, which is roasted slowly in an oven at low temperatures. A number of variants of this preparation have emerged, including some very elaborate processes that involve applying seasonings and covering the cooking meat at specific times to produce a tasty and juicy treat. I´ll try and find specific dome temps. & inside temps. on the BGE.

Other preparations include “cabrito en salsa” in which the animal is cut into portions, browned in oil and braised in a tomato-based sauce with onions, garlic and green chiles, and other seasonings until tender.

A less common preparation is “cabrito en sangre,” or cabrito in blood sauce, which is called here in Monterrey. “fritada de cabrito.” For this preparation, the blood of the animal is collected when it is slaughtered and it becomes the basis for the sauce that the goat is braised in, along with the animal’s liver, kidneys and heart, and other seasonings. The end product is tender cabrito in a rich, very dark sauce. I¨ll keep in touch

TomM24 · February 2008

Beli:

Thanks for your help. God knows I love this dish. On my last night in northern Argentina it was 11:30 and when I ordered the chivitos they said it would take 45 minutes to make and we waited. I am on a different track now since the meat is already seasoned. Will it be OK to cook to medium rare temp of around 145F or 62 C?

Thanks
Tom

Beli · February 2008

Here is one that seems simple & nice.

Roast baby goat

INGREDIENTS FOR 4 PEOPLE: 4 shoulders of suckling goat 600 g each 2 gloves of garlic 1 dl of olive oil 1/2 l of water 1 sprig of thyme salt

Preparation
Crush the garlic, thyme and salt, add a splash of oil, spread the shoulders with this mixture, and place in the oven to cook for about 90 minutes at 180ºC. Sprinkle with water and its own juices

ENJOY

Beli · February 2008

This note is interesting.....
For more than twenty years, the central Texas town of Brady has staged the World
Championship Barbecue Goat Cook-off on Labor Day weekend. Cabrito is a
delicacy that has its ardent admirers--and many detractors. To those who have
failed to see the merit in a crunchy yet tender piece of goat meat, the blame must
be placed squarely on the way it's been cooked and on the fact that the goat you
got probably wasn't a ten-to-eighteen-pound, suckling kid slaughtered at thirty to
forty days of age. Older goat is often passed off as cabrito, but once they start
browsing on grass, goats develop an unmistakable mutton flavor. They are also
tough. The best time to get real cabrito is May through October. After October, you
should be skeptical.

Cooking your own cabrito can be real simple if you want to dig a hole in your
backyard, as purists insist. All you need is a three-foot-deep pit with a mesquite
or oak fire raging
in it. Wrap a skinned cabrito in a gunny sack bound with wire and set the meat in
the pit. Cover it with dirt to seal in the heat and let it cook all day. The cabrito will
be smoke-seasoned and tender by nightfall. Apartment-dwellers might want to
opt for the kitchen method of cooking cabrito: place half a cabrito in a roasting pan
with salt, pepper, and two or three onions and baste with hot lard or shortening.
Cook for an hour and 45 minutes in a 375-degree oven, turning every twenty
minutes or so. Sure beats having to dig up the back yard

BobS · February 2008

I am not sure if you have kept it fresh or if it went in the freezer, but if it is fresh, you might want to cut off a small slice or two, do a quick sautee inside and get a sense of taste and toughness to decide on next steps for the rest of the meat.

I lived in Mexico for a total of 10 years, so I think of something with a Mexican style/flavor.

I would tend toward doing a naked sear, coat it with sdobo or achiote (available in Mexican markets) and then slow braise it with some combo of beer, wine, stock, tomatoes, garlic.

I am betting that you can make something that is FINE, FINE, FINE

fishlessman · February 2008

something that you dont see too often is pulled goat, it is possible to get it to pull, i dont care for it at all but some like it, cook it to about 210 degrees and wrap it in foil with some seltzer water at about 170 internal, same as cooking pulled beef but it pulls a little harder. tastes like mutton to me. i would make meat pies from it, substitute the lamb for ground goat, yoe can use pizza dough for this and make small pies, serve with a chutney or some labna. richard has a chutney recipe that goes real well with sfiha

im pretty sure this one was the leg of mutton

sfeeha pies, i dont have my recipes with me today buts theres lots on the web

almost forgot, you could make stuffed grapeleaves with it
most of those were made from lamb but since its cooked with lots of spice, goat would be fine

i once posted a pic of lamb being delivered to a halal meat market up here, i think it horrified some

fishlessman · February 2008

if the stuff turns out to be tough, this might work as well, this one was a stew made with apricots and prunes

Leg of Goat

Comments

Categories