Halloumi Fig Salad

I discovered goat earlier this Spring.  I wanted to make a Greek-style shepherd’s pie, a pastitsio.  The recipe called for ground lamb, pasta and a bechamel sauce.  I stopped by a stand at the market I’d never visited before–Jimenez Farms, who specialize in sustainable lamb, goat and rabbit.  They were out of ground lamb, but did offer me ground goat.  I was told that the goat was less ‘gamey’ and more delicate than the lamb.  In the months that followed, I have tried lamb and goat and I am such a believer in goat, that I’ve slowly also been substituting pork with goat.  I’ve made meatballs, a goat tagine, and even goat merguez.

One day, two food bloggers I’ve been following; Barbara of Creative Culinary and Rachel of La Fuji Mama began discussing goat on twitter and came up with a one-off challenge–to make various dishes utilizing goat.  I was just so happy that other cooks had discovered goat and were as curious as I’ve been to use goat as an ingredient in more and more dishes.

I thought this would be another great opportunity to challenge myself to another ‘Chopped’ / ‘Iron Chef’ self challenge, so here’s what I came up with:

Last year, I made a Humboldt Fog (goat cheese) spinach salad with figs and it was delicious.  Since then, I’ve discovered another goat cheese–one with an intriguing texture–Halloumi.  My Greek friend, Nikki introduced me to this cheese, that our boys refer to as squeaky cheese because it squeaks when you chew it.  And, it can also be grilled.  I found a hunk of halloumi at my neighborhood cheese monger, Andrew’s Cheese Shop.  He imports the halloumi from Cypress and describes the halloumi as a denser, saltier mozzarella, with a hint of mint.  Oh, and did I mention that you can grill it?

Halloumi, the squeaky cheese

I also picked up some figs that are in high season at the farmers’ market.

Black Mission Figs

And as luck would have it, my arugula plant was ready for picking.

home grown arugula

My first goat-inspired dish–a summer grilled salad, featuring Halloumi and Figs

I made a goat shank with black trumpet mushrooms tagine-like dish earlier this year and enjoyed it so much that I decided to revisit the dish and make it slightly brinier by including preserved lemons and olives and sweeten it with dates.

Briney and Braised Goat Shank

Because of all the sauce, I served this dish with creamy polenta, to soak up the sauce.

Thai Goat Stew (aka, Moo Palo but with Goat)

This final dish could be categorized under $#*! My Mom Makes…but it is a recipe I’ve somehow figured out on my own.  I had been waiting for a goat belly to make this dish, but lamb and goat belly have been a hot commodity in LA lately and I haven’t been able to get a hold of any.  So I settled for a goat shoulder roast.

This dish is a(nother) childhood favorite that my mom hasn’t made in years until a recent visit.  And upon trying it, I realized that if BBQ’d could pass for a Chinese Char Siu BBQ.  But this is more of a stew–a comfort food that includes hard boiled eggs and spongy tofu that in the package looks like a dehydrated sponge, but once in the stew, soaks up the stew juice and increases in size.

The meat has to simmer for a long time.  Made with pork and/or especially pork belly; it melts in your mouth.  I wish I had a chance to make it with goat belly because the fat soaks up the sauce in the same way the tofu does.  With a bit longer cooking time, the goat does become tender and soft.

It’s at once salty and sweet.  And has the comforting warmth of the cinnamon, cloves and anise.  Over hot rice, it brings me back to my childhood.  And my son really likes it too.  I hope one day he’ll make this dish and enjoy it with same warm fond memories I have.