Fire It Up - Andrew Schloss [83]
Remove to a platter and let rest for 15 minutes.
When ready to serve, whisk the butter into the sauce along with some juices from the platter. Cut the goat crosswise into tiny T-bone steaks with a cleaver or heavy chef’s knife, season with salt and pepper, and serve with the sauce.
WHOLE KID
Spit-Roasted Whole Kid Spanish-Style
MAKES 6 TO 8 SERVINGS
The Spanish palate is nuanced and complex, born from a rich variety of native ingredients—bitter Valencia oranges, sweet smoked paprika, honeyed vinegar from Jerez, and an afterglow of saffron. Here those flavors infuse a whole baby goat cooked on a spit. Don’t be intimidated by the prospect of cooking the whole animal. A kid goat only weighs about 15 pounds, and will fit nicely on any grill that’s at least 36 inches wide. Once it’s secured to the spit and turning steadily over the fire, it’s really no bother at all. Carve the roasted goat into manageable pieces and serve.
INGREDIENTS:
2 quarts wood chunks or chips, such as oak or hickory, soaked in water for 30 minutes
1 small kid goat (10 to 12 pounds), trimmed of excess fat
½ cup olive oil
Zest of 1 orange
⅔ cup Smoked Paprika–Saffron Rub
1 cup water and/or sherry, plus more as needed
Sherry Orange Mop:
3 cups dry sherry
½ cup olive oil
Zest and juice of 1 large orange
⅓ cup Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons smoked paprika
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
3 garlic cloves, minced
¼ cup chopped onions
¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon salt, preferably smoked
1 teaspoon ground black pepper, preferably smoked
¼ cup honey, preferably orange blossom
Juice of 1 orange
DIRECTIONS:
Light a large grill for indirect medium heat, about 325°F, with a rotisserie in place.
Rub the goat all over with ¼ cup of the olive oil. Rub the orange zest over the inside of the goat, then sprinkle the paprika-saffron rub evenly over the inside and outside. Secure the goat to the spit rod so that it will not spin loose on the spit. If your spit has skewers, slide the rod’s skewers over the front and rear of the spit and push them deep into the shoulders and hips before tightening.
Set a large disposable aluminum drip pan beneath the goat and fill with 1 cup water (and/or additional sherry if you can spare it). If using wood chunks or chips, add a couple of handfuls to the grill and wait until you begin to see smoke. Put the spitted goat on the grill, cover, and cook until the rub has set, about 30 minutes.
For the mop: Mix the ingredients in a bowl and baste the goat with a generous coat of it. Cover and continue cooking until the meat registers 155°F on an instant-read thermometer inserted in a thigh, about 40 to 50 minutes more, replacing the coals, wood chunks or chips, and water (or sherry) in the drip pan, as necessary. Baste with the sherry-orange mop every 15 minutes. If your grill has a temperature gauge, it should stay at about 325°F.
Combine the remaining ¼ cup olive oil, the honey, and orange juice. During the last 15 minutes of cooking, brush the honey mixture over the goat and continue cooking to form a glaze.
Transfer the goat to a large work surface, remove the spit rod, and let rest for 15 minutes. Carve into pieces and serve.
GROUND BISON
Bison Cheeseburgers with Horseradish Mustard
MAKES 6 SERVINGS
If you didn’t know they were bison, you’d swear these were all-American cheeseburgers. To ramp up the flavor of the mild meat, we mix a little steak sauce into the meat and spoon some mayonnaise flavored with horseradish and mustard over the burgers. The addition of toppings like ripe slices of beefsteak tomatoes and torn pieces of crisp lettuce are entirely up to you, but resist the urge to cook these past medium doneness. Grilled bison burgers go from juicy to leathery in minutes.