Shoulder of baby goat braised in milk, saison and Mexican chillies

SERVES 4

plain (all-purpose) flour, for dredging

1 shoulder of baby goat, weighing 1.2–1.5 kg (2 lb 10 oz–3 lb 5 oz), cut in two at the middle joint

1 tablespoon olive oil

250 ml (9 fl oz/1 cup) milk

250 ml (9 fl oz/1 cup) saison ale

1½ tablespoons honey

CHILLI PASTE

1 head of garlic

1–2 teaspoons olive oil

3 chipotle (dried smoked jalapeño) chillies

4 pasilla chillies

4 guajillo chillies

250 ml (9 fl oz/1 cup) boiling water

1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme

1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh marjoram

½ teaspoon ground cumin

¼ teaspoon ground white pepper

½ teaspoon sea salt

SALSA

1 red onion, finely diced

2 tomatoes, skin and seeds removed, flesh diced

1 avocado, diced

1–2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)

juice of ½ lime

Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F/Gas 6). To make the chilli paste, place the whole head of garlic on a sheet of foil that has been folded in half. Drizzle with the olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt and wrap the garlic up. Bake for 20–30 minutes, until the garlic is nice and soft. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

Cut the top part of the chillies off, removing the stems. Shake out all the seeds, then cut each chilli into three or four pieces, depending on their size – the chipotles you can just cut in half.

Put a frying pan over medium–high heat and place half the chilli pieces in the pan – don’t overlap them as you want to toast the skins. Cover them with another frying pan or a heavy stewing pot to press the chillies down so the skins are in contact with the hot surface. Toast for a couple of minutes, until the chillies smell fragrant and begin to smoke a little – be careful not to burn them! Remove the top pan or pot, turn the chillies over and toast the other side, again weighing them down. Transfer to a large bowl and repeat the toasting process with the remaining chillies, adding them to the bowl. Pour the boiling water over the chillies, so that they’re all covered, then place a bowl on top of them to push them under the water. Soak for 30 minutes.

Drain the chillies, reserving the soaking liquid. Put the chillies in a food processor, along with about 125 ml (4 fl oz/½ cup) of the soaking liquid. Squeeze out the garlic flesh from each roasted clove and add to the processor with the thyme, marjoram, cumin, white pepper and salt. Process to form a rough sauce, stopping once or twice to scrape down the sides of the bowl. If the sauce is too thick, add a little more of the soaking liquid – it should be a bit like a runny porridge. Once it is well blended, pour the sauce into a sieve that is resting over a bowl. Then, using a soft spatula, push the sauce through the sieve, discarding all the solids left behind.

Heat the oven to 160°C (315°F/Gas 2–3). Put the flour in a clean plastic bag and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add the goat and shake the bag, then shake off the excess.

Heat the olive oil in a large flameproof casserole dish or baking dish over medium–high heat and brown the goat all over. Turn the heat down to medium and stir in the chilli paste. Cook for several minutes, turning the goat so that it is well covered by the paste. (At this point you could, if you like, marinate the goat overnight.) Add the milk and beer. Stir to combine, bring back to a gentle boil, then add the honey and stir again for a minute or two.

Cover the casserole dish with a tight-fitting lid, transfer to the oven and bake for 2–2½ hours, turning the goat over after the first hour, and taking the lid off for the last 20 minutes. The goat will be falling-off-the-bone tender and moist.

Just before serving, mix the salsa ingredients in a bowl with a pinch of sea salt.

To serve the goat Mexican style, pull the meat off the bone, shred it with two forks and put it on a plate. Serve it up with the salsa, some roasted corn cut off the cob, a bowl of the sauce from the casserole dish and some fresh steamed tortillas. Tear off some of the tortilla, wrap it around some meat, salsa, corn and sauce, then eat it! If you haven’t already, drink the rest of the beer you used in the cooking – and if you already have, then open another one.

Beer Notes

Saison ale is also known as ‘seasonal’ ale; Aussie versions include Temple Saison, Otway Estate Prickly Moses Saison and Bridge Road Brewers Chevalier Saison. Also try the Belgian-made Saison Dupont, voted the world’s best beer in 2005