Food festivals & Goat chops

Mortonhampstead Food festival has restored my faith in Festivals. After the foot & mouth outbreak in 2001 our newly diversified business was involved in Exmoor food Festival, a week of farm walks, food tasting and special events culminating in a food market in Porlock village hall. Tables were £10 and we sold out of produce. The tiny village hall was packed with excited foodies that wanted to supported us desperate farmers. Now there is a food festival every week during the summer, mostly run by event companies that charge £100's for a table and after the customers have paid to get in they buy a beer, a burger and very little else. After attending a few such events last year with great optimism I came away feeling that the only one making a profit was the event company. So a big well done to Mortonhampstead that got the atmosphere just right, like the old days when festivals were a novelty, we have come home with a decent return and most of all the encouragement that customers are championing local produce and it is worth our while producing quality.
Taking along some goat recipes we quickly sold out of mince & diced. Not having any recipes for chops meant they were slower to go so .....

Mediteranean Braised Goat chops
Goat chops to feed the family
large glass of red wine
Seasoning
rosemary
handful of Smoked garlic cloves peeled

Chuck everything in a heavy based casserole pan, or in roasting tin covered with tinfoil.
Cooked 200 degreesC for 30 minutes
Serve with rice, green salad & crusty bread.

Next weekend is Totnes Good food Sunday which thanks to the dedication of Ray is another event that just gets better & better. This time I planning on selling out of chops first!

A spicy mutton curry, with lamb mutton!

So travelling in India last year we ate a lot of mutton curry, some times the mutton was goat and sometimes it was sheep. The indians were pretty evasive if you tried to find out which, trying always to give the answer that they thought you wanted. Some of it was dreadful and some of it was excellant. The most dreadful meal had to be a chicken curry served up by the owner of a massive integrated poultry and feed mill enterprise after which I avoided anything other than vegetables & mutton. The plus point was I managed to not get ill, i think living on a farm must make me immune to most diseases. As we are selling sheep mutton & goat this month here is a recipe that can be used for both.... I love using dred Apricots in cooking i am sure they must be healthy! Indian Spiced Mutton with Apricots Ingredients serves 4-6 4 tbsp sunflower oil 2 onions, finely chopped 4 garlic cloves, crushed 2 ½ cm (1 inch) piece of fresh ginger, grated 1 tsp ground cinnamon,1 tsp ground cardamom 1 tsp ground cumin,1 tsp chilli powder 1 1/2 tsp garam masala or curry powder 2 tbsp tomato puree 1 kg (2 lb) cubed Higher Fingle organic mutton 200 g (7 oz) dried apricots 1 tsp red or white wine vinegar 1 tsp honey, salt, black pepper Cooking instructions Preheat the oven to 160C (325F) Gas 3. Heat the oil in a large, heavy casserole over medium heat. Add the onion and fry until golden, 10 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, cumin, chilli,garam masala and tomato puree, and fry, stirring, until fragrant, 1 minute. Add the mutton with the flour, stirring until it is thoroughly coatedwith the spiced mixture, then cook gently until lightly browned, 10-15 minutes. Add water just to cover and bring a simmer. Cover and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes. Stir in the apricots, honey and vinegar and cook for a further 30 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot and accompanied by creamy yoghurt and steamed rice.