BBQ Goat Chops

Having The Goat Company at Jesmond Food Market regularly means I've been able to get hold of goat meat much more easily; and hearing James Whetlot of Cabrito speak the other week about his endeavours to make it available more widely, has also encouraged me to try it out more. It's a really tasty yet subtle meat, which I would like to cook with more often. I tried out a goat ragu a couple of months ago; browned then slow cooked with onions, carrots and celery, some red wine and chopped tomatoes, served with polenta, it was simple and delicious, but not particularly photogenic. This time round I went for some chops...

I am without a kitchen at home at the moment and am really missing cooking for myself, friends and family. It has been knocked down to be rebuilt and will be wonderful once it is finished but washing up in the minuscule bathroom sink just isn't feasible so we're surviving on salad, Cook House leftovers and accepting every dinner invitation thrown our way! Subsequently a holiday in the Lake District, for a few days, with a working kitchen, bbq and smoker sent me into a bit of a frenzy... Menu planning, shopping lists, orders placed; this was not going to be time wasted! A little simple bbq to kick things of when we arrived was actually one of the highlights.

I began by marinating the goat chops in a mix of chopped rosemary, a clove of grated garlic, the juice of half a lemon, olive oil and salt and pepper. I thought simple was best, to appreciate the flavour of the meat and I like a BBQ that is a bit Greek in style; home made flat breads, choppy salads and dips... lots of things to pick at on the table, it's the best way and delicious.

Leaving the goat to sit for an hour or so, we lit the bbq... and I set about some simple side dishes. Some asparagus, spring onions and sliced courgettes, with just a bit of olive oil and salt are delicious on a bbq. More often than not people pile a ton of meat on, every type at once, with a token corn on the cob, but I like a vegetable on the bbq just as much as a chop!

BBQ pea pods were a good discovery over the weekend, just put fresh pea pods onto the bbq, turn until they are charred, then open them up and you have tasty steamed peas, sprinkle with a bit of salt. They can go on while the bbq is still too hot for everything else so are a good pre dinner snack, as they only take a couple of minutes...

I made some homemade flatbreads, which sounds like a lot of effort but is the opposite. 250g plain flour mixed with 150ml of warm water, a teaspoon of salt and a table spoon of olive oil, mix it into a dough and knead for 2 minutes then let it sit under a bowl until you need it. It will make 4 large flatbreads. Just divide it into 4 and flatten out into a thin disc when you need it and chuck on the bbq at the end, it will puff up and char a bit. The dough takes 2 minutes as does the rolling out and you will be rewarded ten fold by the delight of your own fresh bread!

I also made a sweet cumin yoghurt, a smoky aubergine yoghurt and a spicy tomato sauce; my favourite trio of dips, you can see how here...

Time to BBQ. Make sure you have left it calm down a bit, all the coals white but not volcanic, you don't want everything burnt to a crisp within a minute of being on the grill. We put the veg on first and a bit of sliced halloumi... lush... Then the goat chops, about 3 minutes on each side, I put a sprig of rosemary on at the same time as the chops which caught fire coating them in a lovely rosemary char... Then take it all off into a nice hot bowl and put the flatbreads on, roll them quite thin and they will only take a minute while everyone tucks into the rest of the offerings... It was a lovely evening.

Food for Thought Weekend

I listened nervously to the speakers on Saturday at The School of Artisan Food, knowing it would be me in the spotlight the next day. But actually in the end the nerves disappeared until about ten minutes before I went on, I ended up totally distracted by all the fascinating people, and by the endless food and drink being proffered in my direction...

Unfortunately we were on the A1 while Jeremy Lee, Joanna Blythman and Jeanette Orrey were speaking, but we arrived in time to hear Bee Wilson speak about how people learn to eat; or to feed. A really interesting insight into how children develop eating habits and how to help them and make food a delight, teaching them to take pleasure in eating everything available.

Olia Hercules took to the stage that afternoon and told us lovely tales of fermenting foods in the Ukraine, so many ideas I want to try and places I would love to visit one day. The summer kitchens of Ukraine sound like beautiful places to hang out, I'd like to have one in Newcastle but we don't have any issues with it being too hot up here... and we don't even have a garden... so that's the end of that pipe dream. If you don't have Olia's book Mamushka you should get it, it has beautiful recipes and is written with such warmth and humour.

After a lovely evening of food, wine and new friends I was first up in the morning. I had written my speech over the course of the week before, not leaving quite enough time and interrupted by life and escaped bees I only finished it the night before, turns out talking for 45 minutes is a LOT of words, about 6000 actually. I will publish it here at some point soon...

I told of my journey from architecture, to food blog, to market organiser to shipping container restaurant owner and everything in between over the past 5 years. I included lots of beautiful photos just in case I froze. There were a couple of moments when my mouth felt like it wouldn't move and I forgot to breathe occasionally, but I got through it and everyone was very complimentary at the end.

That morning we also heard from James Whetlor on the challenges of trying to farm goats on a scale to supply national supermarkets. It left us thinking that there should be some level of shop between farmers market and supermarket that allows these producers to make a decent living without having to jump through all the impossible hoops the supermarkets impose, let alone the cost of getting through those hoops... A farm shop chain specific to the region it's in... a future project perhaps. after the summer kitchen...

Next were Honey & Co. duo Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich, who told the charming tale of opening their place in Soho, and its background in the food they grew up on. Finally Andrew Graham Dixon, then Ivan Day, a wonderful food historian, who told us about the Coccagna festivals held in Italian cities in the 17th century. They were based on myths where money and food grew on trees, rivers flowed with wine and if you worked you went to prison. Sounds alright? They constructed huge pavilions of cake and bread, formal gardens made from hams and cheese, fountains of wine, you can't imagine anything like it. Constructed by the king and then given to the poor of the city to feast on...

I still feel a bit overwhelmed by the whole weekend, it was wonderful!