Roasted Goat for Lunch

For Sunday lunch, we ate roasted goat in a tent on a sheep farm, to benefit Slow Food Madison, one of the WI chapters of Slow Food USA, a grass roots educational movement, that all began in Italy. I think the money raised by the goat lunch will go mostly towards sending more people from Madison to the slow food conference, Terra Madre, in Italy; the 2008 conference is later this month.

"SUNDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2008 guest chef Tracey Vowell returns to prepare an all-inclusive family-style meal featuring goat slow-cooked in the wood fired pit." Vowell was formerly managing chef at Rick Bayless Frontera Grill, until she left to grow vegetables, especially the huitlacoche (corn smut) used at Frontera and Topolo.

We were not served any corn smut at the lunch; Tracey said she was inspired by a Kitchen Sisters' NPR piece on Basque cooking.

The menu:
Basque-Inspired Pit-Roasted Goat served with Pan Juices flavored with Tomato, Onion, Paprika, Thyme & Rosemary, [it was some fancy pit, with brick walls]. I had never eaten goat before - it did not taste a lot like chicken, more like turkey dark meat, especially the dark meat from the birds I have bought from Matt Smith, raised in Southwestern Wisconsin, not far away from the goat that we ate.

Fried Almonds Tossed with Sea Salt & Lemon Juice and Mixed Olives Marinated in Red Wine with Fresh Thyme & Savory, Lemon, Garlic & Onions

Cabbage Soup with Tomato, Carrot, Garlic, Chives & Cilantro - reminiscent of the sweet sour cabbage soup at Ella's Deli; to my tastes, the sweeter Ella's soup is preferable.

Dutch Oven Bread [slightly charred on the edges] with Wisconsin Sweet Butter

Slow-Braised Mushroom Stew with Fire-roasted Mild Green Chile, Red Wine, Bay Leaves & Oregano - the mild green chiles - Anaheims from Tipi Produce - were hotter than advertised - I think this was my favorite dish - some of the mushrooms were also from Matt Smith's farm.

Potato Salad with Butler Farms Farmstead Sheep's Milk Feta, Piquillo Peppers, Carrots & Onions - also delicious, but less appealing on a cold rainy day than the foods that were chemically or physically hotter.

Pit-Baked White Beans Simmered with Garlic, Oregano & Chorizo

Salad of Fall Greens with Lemon Pickled Onions, Toasted Shagbark Hickory Nuts & Carr Valley Artisan River Bend Goat's Milk Cheese - you could really taste the lemons in the pickled onion; I usually make these with vinegar

[dried] Fruit Compote with Basque-Style Crème Anglaise Flavored with Cinnamon, Natillas - I looked up a recipe for natillas when we got home, and found one with a quart of cream and six eggs; the one we were served was equally rich.

I completely forgot my camera; iPhone pictures it was.