Thursday, August 4, 2011

Rachael's Goat Dinner

As a Father's Day gift this year (we were out of town on the actual Father's Day), Rachael invited Judy and I over to her house for an "all goat" dinner and it was everything and more that one would expect from a great chef like La Fuji Mama. For starters we had a bowl of sliced cucumber in goat yogurt. 
I don't think I've ever had goat yogurt before. It was very tasty, with the distinctive goat flavor, and particularly refreshing given the 90 degree thunderstorm induced humidity outside. It was followed by an appetizer pizza with baked king trumpet mushrooms smothered in a very strong, aged goat cheese: pre-baking 
and post-baking. 
I love aged goat cheese: the tang and richness jumped out from the pizza and overwhelmed the taste buds. I could get addicted to that. The centerpiece of the meal was a gorgeous leg of goat which Rachael oven-baked very slowly for more than 8 hours, basting it at regular intervals. The goat leg was surrounded by large cloves from three heads of garlic in a slightly sweet broth. 
After it was removed from the oven, Rachael removed the skin, exposing the wonderfully moist and fatty meat underneath. 
Then she removed the meat from the bones, which went quickly and easily because the meat was so moist and tender. 
The meat, blessed with the addition of the gravy, garlic and a pinch of coarse sea salt, was divine. The other main course dish, as I understand it (I'm not real knowledgeable about Indian food), was a variation of saag paneer, a spinach based dish mixed with an unaged goat curd, 
ladled over a bed of basmati rice. 
It was a very mild, smooth, pleasing and filling dish. The goat and the saag paneer on the same plate were a wonderful combination. 
Despite the wonderful dishes which preceded it, hands down the best dish on the menu was the dessert consisting of fresh apricot halves with a goat cheese mousse filling, something Rachael developed for this meal and previously blogged about
It was AMAZING. The fresh apricots were bursting with flavor and were complemented by a very light, sweet, whipped, goat mousse that melted in your mouth.  I could start and end a meal with a plate of those. They rival her fudge & banana custard pie as her best dessert (I think the pie may beat the apricots by just a nudge). Finally, we had chocolate goat milk truffles covered with a powdered cocoa. 
They were very rich and melted in your mouth. This was an amazing themed dinner prepared by a thoughtful daughter who knows how to cook, for her dad who loves to eat. It was a meal I will always remember and treasure, not only because it was so good, but because of the thought, effort and love behind it.  

3 comments:

  1. It takes a fabulous cook to make goat look sooo appetizing. You are amazing, Rachael!

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  2. This was an incredible meal. I've been dreaming about it in my sleep. Rache, can't you come be my personal chef once a week or so?

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  3. Hi the recipes are very tasty, except the chicken recipe that I do not like.thanks for sharing!!

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