Thread: Tacos, Cabra and Carne Asada

A while back I picked up a nice shoulder of goat and have been debating what to do with it.
And today I found a good deal on Skirt steaks at Costco.
Conclusion reached, I'm falling back on what I know and going Mexican.
Tomorrow will be Barbacoa de Cabra and Carne Asada.

The Skirt is easy, marinate and grill.
The goat I'm going a little more in-depth with.

The goat is going into a overnight marinade.
Then it'll get smoked for a few hours with mesquite.
And finally put in a dutch oven with a Pasilla chile sauce and slowly braised till tender.

Marinade
2 7oz can of Herdez salsa casera
1 lemons, juice/peels
1T garlic, chopped
1/2C fresh cilantro, chopped
1/8C fresh oregano
1/2t salt
1/4t cumin seed

Can you say "tacos!"?
"TACOS!"





Carne Asada Marinade
1/4C olive oil
1/2C orange juice
2T soy sauce
Juice and peels of 2 limes
4 garlic cloves, chopped fine
1 jalapeno chile, chopped fine
1/2C cilantro, chopped
1/2t salt, cumin
1/4t black pepper
3lbs skirt steak

Marinate over night, and then grill over VERY HIGH heat 3-5 minutes on each side
Slice thinly across the grain

Cabra ready for the smoker.
Smoking over mesquite at 250°-275° for about two hours.
Then into a dutch oven with a Pasilla chile sauce and slowly braised till tender.


Carne Asada ready for the grill, I'll hold this till early evening.


Out of the smoker and into the dutch oven.
275° till it falls apart.

The cabra/goat was taking much longer than expected.
The family was hungry so I whipped up the Arroz Mexicana and grilled the Carne Asada.




The cabra took four and half hours to get tender in the dutch oven, but it finally made it and it is good!
Braised in this manner it was much like a spicy version of Osso Bucco.

Goat now that's something I've never had , What kind of taste profile does it have and texture ?

Originally Posted by jollymon

Goat now that's something I've never had , What kind of taste profile does it have and texture ?

Man, ask me a loaded question why don't ya.
It depends on which cut and how it's prepped and cooked.
I mean big differences between fried or grilled chops and how I cooked that.

Mine had the consistency of Pot Roast, falling off the bone and fork tender.
And the flavor profile was highly influenced by the marinade, smoke and chile sauce braising liquid.

Four different people had four different opinions on taste, with all saying it had a wild game flavor to it.
1) Very similar to venison.
2) Slightly gamey beef.
3) Wild pig.
4) Horrible, too gamey whatever the hell it is!

And everyone is correct, goat is known to have a strong flavor, especially the older it is.
Which is why most goats for slaughter are under a year old, with an average of six months.
Which is why it is often marinated for both flavor and tenderizing and/or highly spiced.

Also, if not prepped and cooked properly it is known to get tough.
Care should be taken not to overcook.

I mentioned your post about the goat to my wife and she's never had it also and stated hes has no plans to try it . She's a Beef Chicken Turkey Lamb and all forms of seafood , Some wild game to kind of gal.
Thanks for the break down on it , It's still going to be on my to try list.

That looks great!

Good stuff!

I've had goat a couple of times, mainly in Indian/Pakistani "halal" restaurants. It does have a "gamier" flavor, sorta like lamb/mutton. I've always liked it when I had it.

The old timers up here in NOALA who make goat stew (volunteer fire department fundraisers) always tell me "you have to spoon off that white foam off the top or it tastes rernt". I believe them and pick up a beef sirloin tip or chuck roast at Pete's Meats.