What’s Got Your Goat?

Curried goat makes a delicious and impressive meatloaf.  Serve it with sauteed kale and great northern beans flavored with a dash of red pepper flakes.

Or should I ask, “Who’s got your goat?”  Either way, goat was certainly the last thing on my mind as I strolled (or should I say elbowed) my way through the Union Square Green Market this past weekend.  In the mood for some spring greens, I was, nevertheless, looking for some interesting protein to round out my Sunday supper.  I ignored the tempting baked good stalls, sampled some surprisingly tasty apples and weighed my options at the homemade sausage stand. Then stumbled upon a fishmonger and his daughter from the South Fork of Long Island who were peddling some mighty fine fresh fish, oysters, clams and even scungilli.  It was his first time to market and, because I wasn’t keen on carrying around fish for the next few hours, I told him I’d be back soon.  I was just about ready to give up when I found a goat cheese vendor from upstate New York. 

I’ve been obsessed with the art of making goat cheese ever since a trip to the South of France had me following every sign that had a picture of a goat and an arrow with the word “Fromage” (cheese in French) written at the bottom.  A life spent on a farm raising goats and making goat cheese — what fun?  The nice people at Lynn Haven live that fun every day.  They have a wonderful variety of fresh goat cheese and, to my surprise, goat meat.  Now there’s something you don’t see every day outside the Caribbean.  I spent a few moments feeling really sorry for the goats that didn’t make the cheese cut but was too interested in the ground goat meat to linger on that thought for too long. 

Goat — Curried Goat Stew to be exact — is a popular party dish in Jamaica and the English-speaking Caribbean.  I’ve had it once or twice in my travels but I never thought to make it myself.  It’s succulent, rich and delicious — somewhat similar to lamb — and I thought it would be interesting to turn the ground meat into a Curried Meatloaf.  It was the perfect dish to make and pack for lunch this week but it would be even better to turn them into mini meatballs and serve them with a coconut curry dip at your next festival!!

As an aside, I quickly looked up the expression “What’s Got Your Goat” to be sure it actually was an expression and not something I made up.  While it’s not official, one explanation claims it was a common practice in early 20th century horse racing for a goat to accompany a high-strung thoroughbred before the race to keep it calm.  Unsavory characters betting against that horse would steal the goat, thus upsetting the horse enough to cause him to loose the race. The result:  the person who’s goat was got was pretty peeved. 

Regardless of what’s got your goat or who’s got your goat, I say go get this goat and you’ll make everyone IREE (that’s Rasta for happy, mon)!

Recipe:  Curried Goat Meatloaf

Serves:  4 with leftovers

Ingredients

2lbs. ground goat meat

3 Tbl. curry powder

2 Tbl. allspice

2 piquillo peppers (or 1 roasted red pepper), chopped

1/4 c. minced onion

1 garlic clove, minced

2 Tbl. minced garlic

1 Tbl. hot paprika

2 tsp. chili powder

2 cups fresh breadcrumbs

3 Tbl. light coconut milk (+ extra to brush over the top of the loaf)

salt and pepper

Prepare

Preheat oven to 350°.  In a medium bowl mix together all ingredients and place into a loaf pan coated with cooking spray.  Brush the top with coconut milk.  Bake 1 hour or until cooked through.

Note:  You can halve this recipe but the meat shrinks a bit and it’s less impressive looking if you bake it in a standard loaf pan (still delicious, though!).

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