Goat Meat and Vegetable Curry Stew

2-1/2# smoked goat chops

fresh ground black pepper

3 bay leaves

Put the chops, bay leaves and pepper in a 5 quart pot, and cover with cold fresh water. Bring to a low simmer, cover and cook for 2 hours. Scoop out the meat and let it cool an hour. Chill the cooking liquid. When the meat is still just barely warm, separate it from the bone, outer fat and gristle. 

When well chilled, scrape the fat off the cooking liquid (bone broth) and strain several times through a colander, strainer and finally a piece of thin cloth. You'll use some of this to create the sauce for this stew, the rest can be refrigerated or frozen and used in a future soup.

I ended up with more meat than I expected, 18oz, which I put in a narrow, deep container. Then I added 2-3T white balsamic vinegar, 1/3c EVOO, fresh ground pepper, and several good shakes of Roasted Garlic and Herb Seasoning. Stir gently to coat all the meat, cover and refrigerate several hours or overnight, stirring or shaking gently, once or twice during that time.

Put the well marinated meat into a 4 quart heavy-bottomed pot. Sauté just enough to evaporate any remaining liquid and get the meat browned a bit, using a little of the cooking liquid to keep it from sticking. Then transfer it to another clean container. 

Sauce:

1/2 purple onion

3 lg. cloves garlic

1½" cube fresh ginger

1t alderwood smoked salt

1-2T beef soup base

1-2T smoky cumin

1/2T ground cinnamon

1-2T medium curry powder

14oz. diced tomatoes

Combine the sauce ingredients in a blender jar. Pulse, adding 2c of the well strained bone broth, blending it all until chunky-smooth. 

1 purple onion

2 red mini peppers

3 carrots

3 celery stalks

14oz. diced tomatoes

10 little potatoes*

2T EVOO

Peel the onion, scrub the vegetables, quarter the potatoes and cut the carrots and celery in chunky pieces. Add them to the pot with the EVOO. Sauté and stir a few minutes, until the vegetables are snapping and releasing their scents. Pour in the sauce and simmer 30-45 minutes. Check the flavors and make any adjustments.

Add 1 teaspoon of brown sugar to cut the acidity, if you feel that's needed. Stir in the meat, cover and simmer another 10 minutes. Again, check the flavor and add anything you feel it needs. Serve hot and steamy in nice soup bowls. . .Lin

*Potato Options. . .

...Chop and boil the potatoes separately. Mash them, then serve the stew over mounds of mashed potatoes.

...Pour the stew into a loaf pan, top with mashed potatoes and bake until bubbly, like Shepherd's Pie.

...Eliminate the potatoes completely, if you want, and serve this over cooked linguini pasta, or rice.