Instead of my original idea to cook a Mediterranean style stew, I decided to shift gears once the goat had cooked and try a variation on an Iranian style pilaf. Voila! A sweet and tart goat pilaf emerged, fragrant of tomatoes, apricots and brown sugar.
Total time: 3 hours
Ingredients
1/4 cup oil
1 lb goat shoulder, cubes (with bones is better)
1.25 cups rice
1 small red onion, finely diced
2 sticks celery, finely sliced
2 thin carrots, finely diced
1/2 red pepper, finely diced (roasted, jar pepper is fine too)
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2-3 sweet green chillis
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tbsp fresh ginger, finely chopped
1 yellow potato, peeled and diced into 1/2 inch chunks
1 apple, peeled and diced finely
2 tsp brown sugar
1 can (341 ml) tomato chunks
1 glass (350-400ml) beef broth
1 glass (“) water
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper
1 cup cooked canned beans (romano, white kidney or garbanzo/chick peas)
3-4 dried apricots diced (optional)
2 tbsp butter (optional)
Instructions
In a heavy bottomed non-stick dutch over medium heat, heat the oil and sauté onions, celery, carrots, red pepper for around 5-7 minutes until they start to colour. Add in the chopped garlic, ginger (both would burn if added earlier) and green chillis. Continue to cook for another 3-4 minutes – the mixture should be dry – and add in the goat meat. Increase the heat and sear the goat meat. Once all sides are seared, add a glass of water until the meat is just submerged, reduce heat, cover and cook for around 2 hours or until the meat is tender and the mix is fairly dry. In between, if the meat gets too dry, add some more water. At this stage, remove the lid and pour in the beef broth, tomatoes, bay leaf, sugar, lemon juice, beans and apricots. Bring the pot to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add in the rice – you should have about 2.5 cups of liquid in the pot – check for salt and pepper, and bring to a boil once more. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes until the rice is cooked through. Dob with pats of butter and serve hot.