Marinated Persian-inspired-slow-cooked goat shoulder

 

 

 

I was inspired a couple of weekends ago by the most delicious taboulé I ate at a friend’s house!  In fact, I was inspired all that I ate there.

 

I am not sure that I was the best of guests, however. I must admit that I strategically placed myself rather near to the food buffet-where I spent a great portion of evening -quietly-and (hopefully) inconspicuously taking a bit of food here and there happily eating my way through the evening!

 

Of course this experience served as the inspiration for one of my meals last week. It is a meal richly marinated in exotic, fresh, herbs and spices. It is a meal which combines the flavours of Persian cuisine influenced by Turkish with a- I would say Lebonese touch? Hm—-does that make sense!!

Yes, I think it does! 

OK-so here it is or rather was:

·         Persian-inspired-marinated goat shoulder with a kumquat- cinnamon sauce, which I swear is one of the most succulent meats I have ever had!

·         Quinoa Tabloule with parsley and fresh coriander (, I had no bulgar in the house. So, I decided to try Quinoa instead. Great and healthy alternative-

·         Hummus-and because I soaked way to many chickpeas to make enough hummus for an army- I used the rest to make

·         Home-made Falafel.

 

 

 

 

 

Before I go into the recipe, this meal reminded me of-yet another taxi experience I had recently. Driving home one evening, I was taken home b a lovely man.  As soon as I stepped into the car he asked me where I was from-and I asked him to guess. I told him where I was born-and this did not satisfy him. He wanted to know where my ethnic roots were?

 

Well, I paused and began to talk about where my family comes from and the various regions in the world from which my ethnic roots are be found.  I saw his face in the rear view mirror-and he looked noting less but confused. He then responded by saying that he comes from Iran-“I am Persian” he told me-proudly-“only that and nothing more”.

 

And at that, we began to talk about his Persian culture and of course, the best part of it! Its food!!!! He gave me some great tips as to where I can find the best Persian food in Berlin and then invited me to him home, where he swore the best would be found there! “My wife makes the best Persian food” he said twice, as if I did not believe him. And I saw in his smile, the manner in which his face lit when he spoke about his wife’s great cooking-that the old saying must indeed be true-

 

 The best way to a man’s’ heart is through his stomach!! 

 

For the goat you will need:

• 1 kilo or 2 pounds of boneless goat shoulder  

You will need 2 days at best to prepare: Marinate the goat in the following marinade for about 2 days to really get the lovely flavours of the marinade soaked in-

 

For the marinade you will need:

• ½ cup olive oil
• ½ cups of lemon oil
• ¼ cup of white wine Vinegar
• ¼ cup of finely chopped onion
• ¼ cup tablespoons of finely chopped fresh coriander
• ¼ cup Tablespoons of fresh parsley
• 1/8 cup of freshly chopped mint leaves
• 1 teaspoon of cumin
• 1 teaspoon of turmeric
• 1 garlic clove chopped

 

For the kumquat sauce you will need

• ½ cup of kumquats-cut into small pieces

 Put all of the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour over the goat and let is just sit and ready for a couple of days in the refrigerator.

Once marinated, you are ready to go-most of the work is already done!

Pre-heat the oven to 200 Celsius-or about 400 Fahrenheit, and place the marinated lamb into a roasting try and turn down the oven to 160 degrees Celsius or 320 degrees Fahrenheit. I covered the goat with a bit of foil to avoid overbrowning and then let mine cook slowly for 2 hours, at which point is was perfectly done! Save the juices.

Once done, wrap in foil and now you can begin to prepare the sauce.

For the kumquat sauce-use about ½ cup of the juices which would have the come from the lamb as the base and add about ½ cup of red-wine. Cook this mixture at middle temperature for about 10 minutes to reduce the liquid down to about half the amount. Then add ½ cup of kumquats. Cook for about 15 minutes stirring constantly-adding salt or pepper to taste. You will end up with an almost marmalade-like-looking sauce-not quite as thick, but with a nice gloss and slightly thick and lush consistency.

 

 

 

 

Finish with a dash of cinnamon and serve over the meat! You can garnish the entire dish with a tiny bit of freshly cut coriander and or parsley!