Most weeks, I share a recipe I’ve made many times.  Sometimes they’re even recipes passed down from my mom or grandmother.  But today, I’m sharing something new with you.

Last weekend, I was wandering through the Westford Winter Farmer’s Market at Eric's and I came across a new vendor: Golden Egg Farm.  I stopped to talk, and bought a dozen beautiful (and delicious!) eggs.  I noticed they were also selling goat meat.  I’ve never tried goat meat, but I like a challenge and love to try new things, so I bought a pound of ground goat.

Then I started researching ground goat.  I found plenty of recipes where goat is substituted for ground beef in traditional recipes, like meatballs or lasagna.  But the majority of goat recipes I found were for Caribbean or Indian recipes.  Goat was described as being similar in flavor to lamb.

I ended up taking one of my favorite lamb recipes:  a Middle Eastern dish of ground lamb, rice, and parsley, and swapping out goat for the lamb, sweet potatoes for the rice, and Indian-inspired spice palette for the parsley.  I paired it with a simple yogurt dressing.

I must admit, I had no idea how this would turn out.  I had a back up meal in the fridge, just in case this dish turned out terribly.  But I was pleasantly surprised with the results—it earned rave reviews from my tasting panel, and I’m happy to share this recipe with you.

If you can’t find ground goat, you could use either ground beef or ground lamb instead.  But I’d highly recommend heading to the Westford Winter Farmer’s Market to pick up a package of ground goat from Golden Egg Farm.  It was absolutely perfect for this dish—a more intense flavor than ground beef, but less powerful than lamb.  A delicious surprise, and such fun to try something new!  Golden Egg Farm is scheduled to attend the market every other Saturday, including this coming weekend.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground goat
• 2 pounds sweet potatoes
• 1 large onion
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon coriander
• ½ teaspoon garam masala
• ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 clove garlic, finely minced

Directions:

1. Peel the sweet potatoes and dice finely (about 1/2” cubes).  Place in a large pot and add water to cover.  Boil over high heat for approximately 30 minutes, until the potatoes are soft.
2. Meanwhile, dice one onion.  Add the diced onion and olive oil to a large skillet and cook over medium heat for about five minutes, until the onion is slightly softened.
3. Add the ground goat to the onion and cook until the meat is no longer pink.
4. Drain the sweet potatoes.  Add the sweet potatoes to the skillet along with the onion and goat.  Add the salt, coriander, garam masala, and the chopped fresh cilantro.  Mix gently to avoid mashing the sweet potatoes until the spices have been evenly incorporated into the dish.  Heat over medium low for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
5. In a medium bowl, combine the yogurt, lemon juice, and finely minced garlic.  Garnish with extra chopped cilantro and lemon zest if desired.  Serve the goat and sweet potatoes with yogurt sauce drizzled over the top.