Sunshine After Rain and a Shredded Goat Fry Up

puppy leaping through water

We’ve had one of the wettest winters in decades! Entire days of non-stop downpours.

It’s been wonderful for filling up all our water tanks and the pond, and now we have little waterfalls running through paddocks and down to the dam. Love it. 🙂

flooded pasture

 

I’m not the only one loving this chance to muck around through puddles in my wellies, our dog Luna is in puppy heaven!!

 

puppy leaping through water

 

I took her for a walk the other day and kept bursting out laughing as she ran in circles like a mad thing, attacking rivulets of water as if they were dangerous enemies, splashing through pond and creek as if she was the happiest creature on earth.

How I love her joyous abandon. 🙂

 

dog playing in water

Although the sun is back, the weather is still chilly, so I’m relying on hearty dishes to keep us warm.

This is one of my favorite goat meat recipes, mostly because it’s so savory yet easy to make. It’s an especially good way to use up left over roast goat.

Simply fry up onions and garlic until the onion is caramelized. Add shredded goat meat, salt and pepper, and fry until meat is heated through and starting to brown. We like it by itself or served with boiled potatoes, or piled on toasted bread for a nice open-faced sandwich.

 

how to cook with goat meat

What’s the weather been like in your neck of the woods?

Shredded Goat Fry Up

Ingredients:

olive oil
2 medium onions, halved, sliced and quartered
2 Tbsp minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste (I like lots of pepper!!)
1 cup cooked, shredded goat (I use slow-roasted or slow-cooked goat)

Directions:

  1. Heat olive oil in large saucepan over medium high heat.
  2. Add onions and garlic.
  3. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, stir to combine.
  4. Cook, stirring regularly, until onions are caramelized. About 10-15 minutes.
  5. Add goat meat and cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through and meat browns a bit. About 10 minutes.
  6. Serve alone or with bread as an open-faced sandwich.

 

Learning to Be Brave on the Farm and A BBQ Goat Sandwich

BBQ goat sandwich

Winter is nearly here on our Queensland goat farm, and we can feel it in overcast days, blustery winds, and frigid mornings.

The chooks have stopped laying for the season and the baby goats are growing like weeds. I’m so glad that they’ll be big and strong before the bitter cold of winter hits. I love looking out the window in the early morning and seeing them snoozing in the first warming rays of sunshine that hit their paddock.

baby boer goats

In addition to breeding and selling goats, we also raise our own meat: chickens, ducks, geese, and yes, goats.

I didn’t grow up eating goat meat. I was raised in Northern Canada and thought nothing of eating deer, moose, bear and elk, but goat meat had never crossed my lips.

So I was greatly surprised to learn that goat meat is the most consumed meat on earth. More than chicken, beef and pork. Who knew? Not me! It’s also prized for being lower in fat than chicken while maintaining the high protein levels of beef.

We had our first butchering last weekend and I learned SO much. I’m not a very squeamish person – growing up with three brothers does that to a girl – but I admit I was rather nervous about the whole process. It’s one thing to buy meat nicely wrapped in plastic from the grocery store. It’s quite another to skin, clean, butcher and cut it all up yourself. Thankfully I didn’t have to do it alone.

My friends Neil, Ann, and their son Alex arrived to save the day and give this novice a crash course in butchering.

Neil and Alex did the hard part of actual killing and skinning (thank you!!), being careful to save the hide to be treated and used.

Then Ann stepped in and showed me exactly what needed to be down. She’s been butchering her own meat since she was a little girl and is an absolute wiz. I watched her every move, trying to memorize each stroke and swish. Good thing I did too because as soon as the next goat was ready she handed me the knife and said, “OK, your turn!”

Yipes!

But I did it. All by myself with only a little coaching when I couldn’t remember what to do next. **if you ARE squeamish, please skip the next picture**

how to butcher a goat

Never in my wildest imaginings did I picture myself living on an Australian farm, raising and butchering my own goats. And never could I have guessed the amazing feeling of confidence and strength it has given me.

It’s a wonderful thing to know these goats are fed well and looked after, to know that the meat I’m eating and cooking for friends is healthy and clean. No preservatives, no cruelty or ill treatment, just good, wholesome food.

When I first arrived in Australia, Ann brought over goat meat for me to try. I first made a goat lentil stew that was savory and delicious, and then slow-cooked some until I could shred it and mix it with barbeque sauce to turn it into the goat equivalent of a pulled-pork sandwich. Fantastic. 🙂

Now I have a freezer full of healthy goat meat, ready to be roasted over an open fire, slow-cooked in the crockpot, or dried and turned into jerky.

BBQ goat sandwich

Have you ever tried goat meat?

BBQ Goat Sandwich

Ingredients:

1 goat leg or shoulder
salt and pepper
1 onion, quartered
3-4 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
favorite BBQ sauce
good grainy bread, sliced, toasted and buttered

Directions:

  1. Salt and pepper the goat meat and place in a slow cooker (crockpot).
  2. Add onion and garlic and cover with water.
  3. Cook on high 6-8 hours or until meat is tender and shreds easily.
  4. Remove meat from broth and let rest.
  5. Remove meat from bone and shred.
  6. Mix with BBQ sauce to desired consistency and scoop a generous amount onto toasted, buttered bread.
  7. Serve warm.
  8. *if you like mustard, a good smear of grainy mustard would not go amiss.