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A few months ago, my friends Bryan and Carolyn gave me a pair of goat sirloins along with my purchase of some of their pastured beef. Although I previously tried and liked barbecued goat ribs, I’d never cooked goat, so when I finally got around to preparing it yesterday I decided to follow Carolyn’s advice. The result: interesting.

Goat, according to the USDA, is getting increasingly popular in this country. Meat from young goats is called kid and from mature goats is called chevon, goat or, even, mutton. I forgot to weigh these, but the two together I’d guess weighed 6 ounces at most.

I’ve placed a quarter next to the two steaks for size reference. Each one was smaller than my hand and barely 1/2 inch thick.

Carolyn warned that goat can be fatty, but that didn’t seem to be the case except for the one chunk of fairly well segregated fat on each steak, which I cut off before cooking. She gave me a general outline, and what follows is what I actually did.

Curried goat sirloin

• 2 goat sirloin steaks
• 1/4 cup diced onion
• 1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
• 1/4 cup diced green bell pepper
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 3/4 cup water

1. Trim fat chunks from steaks. Heat heavy pan over medium-high heat. Add the cut-off fat and swirl to coat bottom then remove fat pieces.
2. Add sirloins and brown, about 2 minutes per side.
3. Loosen steak from bottom of pan, and add onions, red and green peppers, brown sugar and curry powder. Stir to distribute ingredients. Add water. Cover pan, reduce heat to low and simmer 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
4. Serve hot over rice with chutney on the side. Makes 2 servings.

Carolyn said she often does hers in a slow cooker, and she suggested adding some coconut milk toward the end of the cooking. I didn’t have any on hand, so I skipped that step.

Taste test

The meat was tender, in a well-cooked-pot-roast kind of way. It had a distinct but not overpowering flavor that reminded me a little of lamb, but leaner. With the vegetables and rice, plus the chutney accent, it was a nice change of pace. I’m not ready to eat it every day, but, then, I’m not ready to eat any meat every day.

In case you’d like to know more about goat, here are two sources I found in addition to the USDA page mentioned above:

• Goat recipes. Many recipes for different cuts are available at Jack & Anita Mauldin’s Boer Goats.
• Goat information. The American Meat Goat Association‘s site appears to be directed primarily at people who raise (or want to raise) meat goats.
• Kansas story. Goats are growing in Kansas too (Lawrence Journal-World), including at Homestead Ranch in Lecompton (regulars at the Lawrence Farmers Market), and there’s a Kansas Meat Goat Association too.