goat+mutton

We had goatchops for dinner the other night. That's right. GOAT. It was pretty darned tasty. I admit I was just a touch hesitant. But I figure goat probably tastes like lamb, right? Either that or it will taste like chicken.

M found this great recipe for the chops but I didn't read it carefully and forgot to get some of the herbs. So I did a work around with dried mint (not enough of it) and dried rosemary and lemons figuring that those are commonly used herbs/flavors with lamb. And goat is probably going to taste like lamb, right?

It's hard to see what the chops look like in these photos. In retrospect, I probably should have let them cook uncovered in the oven for a bit longer (maybe under the broiler? to get a bit of char?). That would have made for a better presentation and cooked off some of the fatty bits better. Oh and there's a few shitake mushrooms draped across them which makes them hard to see as well.


I served the chops with rice pilaf and a build-your-own salad. I've been doing more of these build-your-own salads lately. I used to make up a nice big salad, dress it and toss it and everything. And then end up throwing out about half of it after dinner because I made too much or one of us wasn't in the mood for salad that night. What a waste. Build-your-owns are better. That way I can load up on the tomatoes and olives which m doesn't care as much for and he can load up on the chinese noodles or meat which I use less of and we each end up with a salad that we enjoy a lot more.


Oh, but about that mutton.

This spring when we first came to New England, I drove past a farm with m's parents up in New Hampshire. Upon closer study we found out Riverslea Farm raises sheep and goat, sell the meats from each and also sell their wool. Fantastic! M and I finally made it up there this fall and browsed their market (such as it was) and walked away with a nice chunk of mutton (for stew) and some goat chops. I didn't make off with any wool. I wasn't into the colors they had on offer, though I will keep these folks in mind for the future if I'm ever in the need of some roving.

A few weeks ago m turned the mutton into this amazing stew. I am so bummed that I didn't take any photos. The meat was tender and juicy. And there was no gaminess to it - which I was sort of expecting. I'd always heard that mutton is tough being that it's meat from an older animal but the mutton we had was anything but. So delish!

Similarly with the goat, I was expecting a gaminess to the meat but it wasn't like that all. It just tasted like really good red meat. Very tender and juicy. Yum!