An article in the New York Times last year described goat as the most widely consumed meat in the world, but I’ve seen any number of sources on line disputing that.  I think the explanation may be in the phrasing:  The world may consume more pounds of pork or beef or poultry, but goat is what is eaten by a lot of people who are only able to eat meat on rare occasions (goats are very economical, naturally free-range, famously mobile, and they give excellent milk).  So it may be true that more people around the world consume goat than any other meat.

In any event, you’d never suspect goat had any importance in the world’s diet if you started searching for recipes, as I have, especially recipes treating it as anything but stew meat.  In spite of this handicap, I’ve actually been cooking goat for a year or two (see chops entries here and here).  At first I was pretty much on my own, unable to find much information even on the internet.

But I was determined to check out cabrito, or kid, for myself (ourselves), and at least try preparing simple goat chops or racks.   Yet while I was getting a bit of advice, and encouragement, from purveyors in the Greenmarket who specialized in milk products, I was afraid I was going to screw up and dishonor this wonderful animal.  Goat is very forgiving however, and once I realized I was able to pretty much follow the approaches I use to cook lamb, I was home free.  Goat and sheep are relatives, after all, as both belong to “the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae.”

I recently picked up a copy of a new book called “Goat:  Meat, Milk, Cheese,” and I expect to be consulting it a lot, but even Weinstein and Scarbrough didn’t help me out with my latest adventure in goat cookery:  No mention of spare ribs.

Neither it nor anything I had learned up to two days ago could keep me from being at least a little stressed out about what I was going to do with the 21-oz. frozen rack of spare ribs – in lieu of a package of 5 chops (what were two guys going to do with an odd number?) – I had picked recently from Patches of Star Dairy in the Union Square Greenmarket. I had in fact never cooked spare ribs of any kind, and I couldn’t even locate basic instructions for lamb ribs on line, to say nothing of cabrito.

I wanted to avoid heating the oven on a very warm summer day, so I hoped to pan-grill the meat.  I was reassured about how quickly the ribs might cook by their pale color.  It was almost veal-like.  I decided to use my square enameled cast-iron ribbed grill pan and in the end I pretty much winged it, grabbing some hints about timing from several recipes which were mostly devoted to spicy Indian or Moroccan cooking (I was trying for a more-or-less Italian concept, as usual, one which could be put together with ingredients I had on hand in my small kitchen).

Since the dinner description made it to the blog, it means it was yummy, but I’ll add: “really yummy”.

I have to say however that the Puglian wine with which we accompanied it, which is excellent, which we have always enjoyed many times, and which I’d buy again if I could (I think this was the last bottle from a case we had gotten from Astor Wines), just didn’t seem to stand out with this meal. And yet everything we had loved about it in the past was still there when we savored it alone.

• cabrito spare ribs from Elly Hushour’s Patches of Star Dairy, cut into four pieces and pan-grilled for a total of about 15 minutes, basting all along with a rosemary bouquet/bunch dipped in a mixture of oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper (and replacing a very loose cover of tin foil between each herb sweep); accompanied by green beans from Berried Treasures in the Greenmarket, parboiled, drained, dried, then reheated in oil; and small plum tomatoes (Juliet) from Lani’s Farm (again, the Greenmarket), which halved and briefly pan-grilled then brushed with oil and a bit of balsamic vinegar
• wine:  Italian red, Canusio Troia Puglia IGT Rosso Diomede 2005 from Astor Wines & Spirits

The small list of ingredients may look pretty unexciting, but this pasta recipe is actually a small masterpiece.   Also, while sometimes the whole may be declared better than its parts, when the parts are all of the quality of those I managed to assemble for this dish, it should have been obvious from the start that it would be terrific.

• appetizers:  Ligurian olives, fennel-flavored taralli (both from Buon Italia), quartered radishes (from the Union Square Greenmarket) and salt
• drink: Arak (Kefraya, from Lebanon) mixed with water
• Linguine (Linguettine, Setaro, from Buon Italia) cooked with chunks of new red potato and sliced thin string beans from the wonerful Franca at Berried Treasures in the Greenmarket, and finished with a pesto of basil, garlic, pecorino, pine nuts and oil [see Mark Bittman's recipe, "Trenette with Pesto," from the New York Times]
• wine:  Sardinian, La Cala 2009 Vermentino di Sardegna from Phillipe Wine

• two beautiful 6 oz. filets of flounder from from Riverhead’s P.E. & D.D. Seafood in the Union Square Greenmarket which were pat-dried, sprinkled with white wine vinegar and salt, lightly coated with flour and browned in hot olive oil, then removed from the pan, into which a bit of butter, lemon juice and parsley was introduced and heated before being poured over the fish; accompanied by tiny Fairy egglants from Lani’s Farm (also in the Greenmarket), sliced in half and coated with oil, chopped garlic and fresh mint, (all from the Greenmarket), then quickly grilled on a ribbed cast-iron pan; and slices of Tuscan bread from Eataly.
• wine: Loire, an excellent Sancerre Rosé Fournier [pdf link] Les Belles Vignes 2010 (100% Pinot Noir), gift of a generous, wine-savvy friend

I know I can get excited on this blog when things go well in the kitchen, but this time things went very well, and in spite of some less-than-propitious auguries, like still fighting a bad cold, and missing my deadline the night I had planned to do this meal.

I had headed for the Lobster Place on Saturday without any seafood choice in mind, but when I spotted some beautiful Spanish baby octopus in the shellfish area I just couldn’t pass them up.  I had never prepared octopus before, but Barry and I were big fans of octopada, and almost never missed a chance to order them when they were spotted on a menu.

The challenge was engaged once I returned home, but by the time I had decided what to do with them it appeared it was going to be too late to enjoy them that night.  We enjoyed a great inside “picnic” instead, one which was dominated by some extraordinary house-made culatello, and three excellent Italian cheeses, from Buon Italia across the hallway in Chelsea Market.

Meanwhile, since I didn’t want to leave the octopuses overnight without the help of some preservative, after dinner I placed the four little guys in a spicy marinade and returned them to the refrigerator.  Now I had plenty of time to figure out the rest of the menu and shop for the one ingredient (fresh basil) I needed for the contorno I chose the next day, as well as a lemon for the finished octopus.

I was a little scared;  Barry was scared.  But I was totally organized before I turned on the range below the large ribbed grill and a large deep pan, and the octopus turned out awesome, as did the cauliflower.   Also, my expectations for the seafood and vegetable pairing were fulfilled:  The match seemed inspired, even if it was at least partly merely a function of my love for cauliflower and the fact that I already had some cherry tomatoes on hand.

The wine pairing may not have been quite so ideal, even if a very good Italian rose had seemed like it would be spot on. Fortunately we were able to extend the pleasures of the meal longer than usual (it was a warm evening, and both octopus and cauliflower tasted even better as they reached room temperature);  that gave us the time to also try some delightful vinho verde leftover from a meal of a couple of days before.  I think the white worked better than the rose, although we’re definitely going to look into a vinho verde red.

• baby octopus (3 oz. each) from Lobster Place in Chelsea Market, marinated overnight in garlic, oil, lemon, crushed dried japones peppers, and dried Italian oregano, then pan-grilled whole and seasoned, finished with Sorrento lemon from Eataly, oil and fresh oregano; served with flowerets of cauliflower from Manhattan Fruit Exchange sauteed in a pan in which garlic, crushed dried japones peppers, fennel and coriander seeds had been heated, the mix then braised with halved and seeded cherry tomatoes (from Manhattan Fruit Exchange) and finished with torn fresh basil leaves (from Eataly); and slices of a Demi-Baguette from Eataly.
• wine:  Tuscan Rose, Castello di Ama Rosato 2010, from Eataly;  Portuguese Vinho Verde Vera 2010 (gorgeous label!), from Astor Wines

[image from Barry]

I can’t say enough about the quality of the ingredients which went into this meal – or its success.  It was very easy to prepare:  I finished the onions and the kale mostly before putting the very beautiful lattice-marked, pink-fleshed fillets into the pan for just three minutes (two for the lightly-floured skin side, then one more for the other).

Although the bass was joined by what may not have been an obvious choice of vegetables, everything came together beautifully, the wine ennobling all.  Simply delicious.

• small black sea bass fillets (Eastern Long Island waters) from Riverhead’s P.E. & D.D. Seafood in the Union Square Greenmarket, quickly-sauteed then finished with a bit of oil, a squeeze of lemon and some chopped lovage;  accompanied by sweet, juicy spring onions, also from the Greenmarket (Muddy River Farm in Goshen, New York), which were sliced in half and rolled in oil and salt and pepper, then pan-grilled and finished with a sprinkling of balsamic vinegar; and small leaves of Red Russian Kale, from Lani’s Farm (again, the Greenmarket), wilted in oil which had first been heated with bruised whole garlic cloves, then finished with salt and pepper and a few dabs of oil.
• Wine: French Chenin Blanc, a Saumur, Val de Loire Reserve des Vignerons 2010, from Astor Wines

This is an extremely simple meal, but it’s very seasonal, and entirely dependent upon the geographic location of the kitchen, since ramps (wild leeks, Allium tricoccum) are available only for a few weeks in the early spring, and only in certain areas along the coast of eastern North America, from South Carolina into Canada.  They are also becoming extremely popular, the darlings of a growing food sub-cult, and that  is apparently exposing them to overharvesting.

• Ligurian olives and Roberto’s grissini
• spaghetti (superb Afeltra artisanal pasta from Gragnano, near Naples) tossed with sauteed ramps from the Greenmarket and seasoned with red chili flakes, then finished with a topping of homemade dried sourdough bread crumbs which had been heated in a bit of olive oil with a pinch of salt
• wine: Sicilian white, Corvo Fiore 2009, from Eataly Wines

[because I had nothing current, the image used here is actually one used in this post describing a 4/24/10 meal]

• thick culotte steak, from Dickson’s Farm Stand Meats, pan-seared 2 mins. on one side, 45 secs. on the other, then placed in  a 375 degrees oven for 7 or 8 minutes,  finished with a cover of raw chopped shallots, a drizzle of oil and lemon, some pan juices, and chopped parsley;  accompanied by oven fries (Amey Russet potatoes, from Healthy Farms in the Union Square Greenmarket) which had been tossed with coriander seeds, dried thyme, salt and pepper;  and halved tiny ripe cherry tomatoes (Mexico) from the Manhattan Fruit Exchange, briefly heated in oil and finished with some chopped fresh thyme
• wine:  French, Château de Roquefort Côtes de Provence Les Mures 2006 from Astor Wines

After only a couple of outings, we’ve already come to think of this simple, quick technique for small fillets (here winter flounder, locally caught) as the holy grail of fish recipes:  A way to let the taste of fresh, mild-flavored wild-caught fish shine, with a minimum of distractions.  Last night it was especially superb, not least because the fish had probably been in the sea only the day before.

• large-diameter ribbed tubular pasta, “Gigantoni,” (Setaro, from Buon Italia), combined with a simple cooked tomato sauce using canned San Marzano tomatoes, finished with basil;  served with spelt bread from Eataly
• wine:  Italian, Cà di Pian Barbera D’Asti D.O.C. 2006, from La Spinetta
• small flounder fillets from from Riverhead-based PE & DD Seafood in the Union Square Greenmarket, dried and then sprinkled with white wine vinegar and some salt, lightly-floured, sauteed in a little oil, removed from the pan, to which butter and lemon juice were then added, scraped together, gently warmed, and sprinkled with chopped parsley; accompanied by Japanese mustard greens (frisée-like Mizuna) from Lani’s Farm, also in the Greenmarket, which were wilted in a pan with oil which had first heated some chopped shallots, then finished with a bit of fresh oil
• cheese:   an especially sweet slice of “Rupert,” an artisanal cow’s milk form from the Greenmarket stall of Vermont’s Consider Bardwell Farm (the maker describes it as “An aged, raw Jersey cow milk cheese inspired by great European Alpine cheeses like Gruyère and Comté.”);  accompanied by thin slices of spelt bread
• wine:  Spanish, Naia 2008 Rueda (Verdejo) by Jorge Ordonez, from 67 Wine

Keeping Afloat: Why Supporting Small, Local Commercial Fishermen is Important from SkeeterNYC on Vimeo.

I love broccoli – even “straight” – but I wanted something slightly more imaginative to go with a beautiful fresh cod fillet I had picked up at the Greenmarket.  I tend to prefer vegetables barely cooked, and I almost always avoid complex treatments, but when I looked inside my paper folder with the ”broccoli” tab, I was instantly seduced by the ingredients listed in a Kyle Phillips recipe I had printed some time back.

Halfway through the preparation however I was taken aback when I saw that the “brew” appeared, to my eyes, overcooked, and had come to resemble the limp contorno found in authentic Italian cookery.  I shouldn’t have worried, and I should have remembered how good Italian vegetable preparation can be at its best:  The Broccoletti con Pan Grattato e Acciunghe was awesome, and I will certainly be doing it again.

• cod fillet in green sauce (described by Mark Bittman as “a Basque staple”), that is, a seasoned fillet from Riverhead-based PE & DD Seafood in the Union Square Greenmarket, cooked slowly for maybe 10 to 12 minutes in a skillet with a generous amount of oil,  turned once halfway through, a handful of chopped parsley added at the time;  accompanied by broccoli, a beautiful, blue-bud sorta-Asian variety (“broccolini,” or  ”baby broccoli,” which is actually cross between broccoli and Gai Lan, also known as Chinese Broccoli) from D&J Organic Farm, also in the Greenmarket, cooked with bread crumbs & anchovies (Broccoletti con Pan Grattato e Acciunghe)
• wine:  Spanish, Naia 2008 Rueda (Verdejo) by Jorge Ordonez, from 67 Wine