Farmer's market goat stew

     I have been waiting to write this blog post all day.  As a matter of fact, I suppose that I have been waiting to write this blog since Saturday morning.  Saturday morning Scott and I actually both got up early enough to not only go to the Cabrillo Farmer's market in Aptos but spend a whole hour there!  This is quite unusual, as the farmer's market is from 8-12 and usually we can't motivate ourselves to get up and out of the house that early.  What can I say?  We are both not morning people.
     However, this saturday was an exception.  We were both up around 7:30 am and so actually got to spend some time at the farmer's market.  Usually I don't pay attention to the butcher's tent (I'm not much of a meat eater and the meat there is expensive) but today I noticed that they were selling goat meat.  I love goat meat.  Love love love love love it.  It is so much more than beef.  Alas, I don't know much about meat so I asked the lady working there what she would recommend for a man who's never had it (fiances come in handy sometimes).  She recommended the goat leg steak for a stew meat.  "Perfect for weather like this." she said.  Well, that started the wheels a turning and I decided to buy other vegetables to go with a stew.  Potatoes, leek, onion, carrots they all went in the bag.  I decided that since the meat had the bone in I would cook it in the slow cooker for that "fall off the bone" tenderness.
     Fast forward to today, monday.  At about 10:30 this morning I started preparing my stew.  I was pretty excited because I was making the recipe up completely from scratch.  After looking at a few cookbooks, I had a general idea of what I wanted but the particulars and cooking times would fall to me.  First, I took the goat steak and browned it a little.  They always say to brown meat before you put it in the slow cooker for extra flavor.  Then, I chopped up potatoes, carrots, onion, leek and put it all in.  Covered with beef stock and a few herbs added in and there you go! 
     I got to use two new/old things.  First, my brand new large capacity slow cooker.  It has been sitting in a box for months and I am so excited of the opportunity to finally use it!  Second, my hand held food chopper.  I bought this one a long time ago but didn't particularly like it because it honestly didn't do that great of a job.  Well, it still is not as powerful as my food processor, but it was adequate and easier for the task at hand (chopping leeks and onions). 
     So, here's the recipe.  It's not very exact (I kind of eyeballed the herbs) but it sure is delicious.  I am sure you can mess with the proportions a little.

Farmer's market goat stew

olive oil
salt
pepper
goat leg steak (mine was 1.27 lbs)
yukon potatoes, cubed (I used 7)
carrots, sliced (5)
leek, chopped
onion, chopped
beef stock (2 pints)
rosemary (pinch)
thyme (pinch)
bay leaf

1) Heat oil in pan.  Put salt and pepper on both sides of the goat steak and brown it in the pan on all sides.  Put in slow cooker.
2) Chop all the veggies and add them on top.
3) Cover with beef stock and add in the herbs.
4) Heat on high heat for six hours.
5) After six hours, remove the goat steak and start breaking it into pieces.  It should be fall-off-the-bone tender.  Add the pieces back into the stew.
6) Enjoy!  Especially good with sourdough bread and Pinot Noir wine from Salamandre.  Yum!

     There you have it.  My first (okay, maybe not my first) all myself slow cooker recipe.  I am very proud.  I didn't know how this would come out and am very happy to report that it turned out delicious!  The only bad thing about it is that you have to smell it for all those hours while it is cooking!  I hope you enjoy!



Heather and Scott enjoy the meal




A toast (both bread and wine!)