The picture reminds me of how good the meal was, and I’m happy with some of the details it describes, since I could easily have just repeated much of the formula I’ve used with so many of the the goat chops I’ve served. At least some of the credit for the innovations must be ascribed to (perceived) necessity.

To begin with, while I had planned on serving roasted fingerlings, since it was warm and humid last night I decided to try something that didn’t need a hot oven. I also thought about how the only potatoes I had in the larder would go better with the very German meal I was planning to serve on Monday, Decoration Day.  Fortunately I had picked up some very attractive light green cucumbers (they were delicious, as it turns out) at the Union Square Greenmarket the day before.

I didn’t have any dill, which is an obvious accompaniment for the cucumbers, but I did have some still very fresh acting fennel fronds in the crisper, left over from a meal more than a week before. I also want to thank Persephone for the blessings of green, or spring garlic, especially welcome in a season which leaves us totally bereft of at least the local dried sort.

Another novelty was the final touch given to the chops themselves: While looking on line for garlic mustard information in order to write about it in an earlier post, I read that this herb and putative invasive garden pest alliaria petiolata went really well with goat.

• four small loin goat chops (averaging just over 3 ounces each) from Lynnhaven Dairy Goat Farm, marinated about 45 minutes to an hour in a mix of a couple tablespoons of olive oil, one sliced stem of green or spring ‘Magic garlic’ from Windfall Farms, a freshly-ground mix of black pepper and other seeds or spices (fennel seeds cumin seeds, coriander seeds, star anise, white peppercorns, and whole clove) that had been accidentally combined when I was preparing a dry marinade for a pork belly, then decided to hold onto for future use, 8 slightly-crushed juniper berries, some roughly-chopped rosemary from Stokes Farm, one medium size crushed, now-dried-but-purchased-fresh, bay leaf from Westside Market, and a little zest and juice from an organic Whole Foods Market lemon, the chops pan-grilled for a few minutes, turning 3 times, seasoned with sea salt and a little more pepper after the first turn, finished, while they rested for a few minutes on warm plates, with a bit of lemon juice and a drizzle of olive oil, garnished with roughly chopped garlic mustard from Norwich Meadows Farm [they were perfectly cooked, with not anxiety, this time

• two cucumbers (12 ounces?), described as ‘Japanese cucumbers’ by the guys at Norwich Meadows Farm where I bought them, although I can’t locate anything on line with their color (light green, almost yellow), unpeeled, sliced into rounds 2 or 3 cms thick, sautéed, along with another sliced stem of spring ‘Magic garlic’, in a little olive oil inside a large antique copper pot over a medium-high flame, turning twice, sprinkling with salt each time, each side allowed to begin carbonizing, adding slices from the stems of several small fennel bulbs from Central Valley Farm, more than half way through, seasoned with freshly-ground black pepper, arranged on the plates, garnished with chopped fennel fronds and drizzled with a little olive oil

• one bunch of purple Russian kale from Eckerton Hill Farm, washed, drained, wilted inside a medium size antique copper pot enameled in a tablespoon or so of olive oil in which 4 bruised small cloves of dry garlic from Mexico via Chelsea Whole Foods Market had first been allowed to sweat and begin to color, the greens seasoned with salt and black pepper, arranged on the plates where a little more olive oil was drizzled on top
• the wine was an Italian (Sardinia) red, Sella & Mosca Cannonau di Sardegna Riserva 2015, from 67Wine
• the music was the 2014 recording by Dennis Russell Davies and the Sinfonieorchester Basel of Philip Glass’ Symphony No.1 ‘Low’, composed in 1992

It’s probably a dead giveaway of the really modest size of some of the farms whose produce we enjoy in our local farmers markets that I couldn’t assemble 4 goat chops of the same cut when I was shopping in Union Square recently. No problem however, as I welcomed the chance to show a little more depth than usual on each plate, and I went home with 2 rib chops and 2 loin chops.

I didn’t think much about it until sitting down to write this blog post: This may be a big city, but that doesn’t mean the farms surrounding it have to be.

I love the Union Square Greenmarket.

This is an image of the chops while they were still marinating and the potatoes just after they had been arranged in the oven pan.

• four tiny goat chops, 2 rib cut and 2 loin cut, weighing only one pound altogether, from Lynnhaven Dairy Goat Farm, marinated for about 45 minutes in a mix of a couple tablespoons of olive oil, one sliced stem of green garlic from John D. Madura Farms, freshly-ground black pepper, 8 slightly-crushed juniper berries, some roughly-chopped rosemary from Stokes Farm, one medium crushed, now-dried-but-purchased-fresh, bay leaf from Westside Market, and a little zest from an organic Whole Foods Market lemon, pan-grilled for a few minutes, turning 3 times, seasoned with sea salt and a little more pepper after the first turn, finished with a bit of lemon juice and a drizzle of olive oil, garnished with micro red mustard from Two Guys from Woodbridge [note to the cook: the goat was a little more rare than we prefer, so ignore the instant-read thermometer next time (I think these chops are too small and irregular to get a reliable reading), and use the more dependable finger test]

• about a pound of small red fingerling potatoes from Tamarack Hollow Farm, halved then tossed with a little olive oil, salt, black pepper, a pinch of dried smoked Scotch Bonnet pepper from Eckerton Hill Farm, 6 medium-size garlic cloves (unpeeled, to keep them from burning) from Keith’s Farm, roasted cut-side down inside a 400º oven on a large very well-seasoned Pampered Chef ceramic pan for less about 20 minutes, sprinkled with chopped parsley from Philipps Farms

• most of one large bunch of broccoli rabe (aka raab, or rapini, among other names) from Migliorelli Farm, wilted in a little olive oil inside a large antique high-sided tin-lined copper pot in which 2 garlic cloves from Foragers Market had been heated until slightly softened, the greens seasoned with salt and pepper, divided between the 2 plates and drizzled with a little more olive oil

• the wine was a Spanish (Rioja) red, Bodegas Hermanos de Pecina, Rioja Cosecha Tinto 2017, from Flatiron Wines 
• the music was an album of Luigi Nono’s orchestral works and chamber music, performed by by the Moscow String Quartet, the SWF Symphony Orchestra Baden-Baden, and the Experimentalstudio of the Heinrich-Strobel-Foundation of the SWF Freiburg

 

Now that’s a starter.

• red shishito peppers, an heirloom non-hybrid variety of peppers from Alewife Farm, which, at least in this very first experience of them, we both found even more delicious than the familiar, less mature, green ones (they were chewier, in a good way, and while each boasted a little heat, the hottest of this batch was still not as hot as the hottest green shishito we might regularly experience), washed, drained, dried, then sautéed over medium high heat in a seasoned 13.5″ cast iron pan for a few minutes, stirring, seasoned with Maldon salt, arranged on the plates, more of the salt added, to taste
• slices from a She Wolf Bakery miche
• the wine was an Italian (Abruzzo) rosé, Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo, Sirio 2017, from Astor Wines

The main course was just as delicious as the appetizer, although without the frisson of anticipating a surprise level of scoville units; also it was a little more complicated to prepare.

• four tiny loin goat chops, each averaging less than 3 ounces, from Lynnhaven Dairy Goat Farm, marinated for about 45 minutes in a mix of a couple tablespoons of olive oil, 2 small sliced cloves of fresh garlic from from Alex’s Tomato Farm, freshly-ground black pepper, 8 slightly-crushed juniper berries, some roughly-chopped rosemary from Phillips Farms, one medium crushed bay leaf from Westside Market, and a little zest from an organic Whole Foods Market lemon, then pan-grilled for a few minutes, turning 3 times, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground pepper after the first time, finished with a bit juice from an organic Whole Foods Market lemon and a drizzle of olive oil, garnished with micro red basil from Two Guys from Woodbridge

• eight tiny golden zucchini or yellow summer squash from Berried Treasures Farm, the last on the farm’s Greenmarket table that afternoon(one of those in the picture didn’t survive the journey), washed, dried, halved lengthwise, tossed with a little olive oil, sea salt, and freshly-ground black pepper, pan grilled until softened and slightly charred, turning once, arranged on the plates, scattered with cut parsley and torn spearmint leaves, both herbs from Phillips Farms, a bit of one finely chopped medium spicy ahi rico pepper from Alewife Farm, also 8 or so halved pitted kalamata olives from Whole Foods Market, drizzled with a little olive oil and served at room temperature
• some peppery red watercress from Dave Harris’s Max Creek Hatchery
• the wine was a Spanish/Catalonia/Priorat red, Sao del Coster, Priorat 2015, from Flatiron Wines 

• the music throughout the meal was the beautiful symphonies Joseph Martin Kraus composed in the 1770’s and 1780’s, Werner Ehrhardt conducting Concerto Köln

 

[the image of Kraus as a student in Erfurt is a portrait attributed to Jakob Samuel Beck, and it appears on the composer’s Wikipedia page]

These were quite possibly the most delicious goat chops either of us had ever had. This makes me very happy, because, for what it may be worth, I don’t think either or I have ever been served goat chops outside of our own home.  I’m going to share my happiness with Lynn Fleming, the local goat breeder from whom I had purchased the meat, commending her for the quality of her production.

The extraordinarily pungent marjoram flowers were stars too,..

..even if they couldn’t rival the splashy color of the micro radish.

• four loin goat chops, each averaging just over 4 ounces, from Lynnhaven Dairy Goat Farm, marinated for about 45 minutes in a mix of a couple tablespoons of olive oil, 2 small sliced cloves of fresh garlic from from Alex’s Tomato Farm, freshly-ground black pepper, 8 slightly-crushed juniper berries, some roughly-chopped rosemary from Phillips Farms, one medium crushed bay leaf from Westside Market, and a little zest from an organic Whole Foods Market lemon, then pan-grilled for a few minutes, turning 3 times, seasoned with salt and freshly-ground pepper after the first time, finished with a bit of a fortunate nicety, some tomato water that remained from an earlier meal, plus some very aromatic marjoram flowers from Stokes Farm, and a drizzle of olive oil
• a knob of purple micro radish from Windfall Farms, as a plate garnish

• a vegetable assembly that began with preparing 10 or 12 small, one-ounce artichokes from Alewife Farm (removing the outer leaves, trimming the stem, cutting off the top third, slicing in half lengthwise) while a little olive oil and 2 smashed fresh garlic cloves, again from Alex’s Tomato Farm, were heated inside a large antique copper pot over low heat, and when the oil began to sizzle, a handful of oil-cured black olives, a few branches of fresh thyme from Campo Rosso Farm, a pinch of sea salt, and the artichoke halves (cut side down) were added, the heat raised a bit and the chokes moved around until they had browned, when a handful of a mix of ‘wild Mex tomatoes‘ and Coyote tomatoes, both from Eckerton Hill Farm, was added, along with a splash of water, and everything cooked until the chokes were tender, the pot covered for part of the time, the dish seasoned to taste and served [NOTE: it can also be served at room temperature, which makes this recipe very convenient]
• the wine was a zinfandel a California (Lodi) red, Karen Birmingham Reserve Zinfandel Lodi 2015, from Naked Wines
• the music was Carl Heinrich Graun’s 1755 opera, ‘Montezuma’, Johannes Goritzki conducting the German Chamber Academy Neuss and the Cantica Nova Chamber Choir 

 

* although not really a caponata at all, it turned out to be an excellent accompaniment for the goat

Goat chops. An unfamiliar treat on most tables, and, even if we’ve been enjoying them for years (beginning long before this blog), not familiar enough on ours. This is especially how we both feel after this meal.

The chops and the vegetables were local, the goat from west central Vermont, the Japanese sweet potatoes from northwest New Jersey’s Kittatinny Valley, and the kale from the Catskills, northwest of us.

 

• four loin goat chops, each weighing less than 4 ounces, from Consider Bardwell Farm, first marinated for about half an hour in olive oil, 2 small sliced cloves of garlic from Trader Joe’s, black pepper, juniper berries, rosemary from Eataly, one medium crushed fresh bay leaf from Westside Market, and a little zest from a local sweet lemon from Fantastic Gardens of Long Island, then pan-grilled for a few minutes, turning 3 times, seasoned with salt and freshly-ground pepper after the first time, finished with oil, juice from the same lemon, and lovage from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• two Japanese sweet potatoes from Race Farm, scrubbed, cut, unpeeled, into half-inch discs, tossed with a little olive oil inside a bowl with salt, pepper, 2 thickly-sliced small garlic cloves from John D. Madura Farm, some small fresh sage leaves from Eataly, and a piece of crushed home-dried dark Habanada pepper, then arranged on a medium well-seasoned Pampered Chef unglazed ceramic oven pan, placing each of the garlic pieces on the top of a potato slice (to avoid burning), roasted for about 35 minutes, finished with some cut chives from Phillips Farm
• winter kale from Lucky Dog Organic Farm, washed, drained, briefly sautéed in olive oil in which 2 bruised and halved garlic cloves from John D. Madura Farm had first been allowed to sweat and begin to color, the greens seasoned with salt, pepper, a very small amount of crushed dried Itria-Sirissi chili (peperoncino di Sardegna intero) from Buon Italia, and and a little more olive oil
• the wine was a California (Lodi) red, F. Stephen Millier Angels Reserve Shiraz 2015, from Naked Wines
• the music was Schumann’s ‘Scenes from Goethe’s Faust’, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and the Tölz Boys Choir conducted by Claudio Abbado, with Bryn Terfel, Karita Mattila, Jan-Hendrik Rootering, Barbara Bonney, Endrik Wottrich, Brigitte Poschner-Klebel, Susan Graham, Harry Peeters, Iris Vermillion, and Hans-Peter Blochwitz