Stewed Goat Sonnet 126
Though technically not one of his Sonnet recipes - being merely a series of 6 rhyming couplets instead of 6 interlocked rhyming lines followed by a single rhyming couplet - “Stewed Goat” is nevertheless one of Shakespeare’s more acclaimed 12-line dishes. Its central theme is one of William’s favorites - making sure that a food’s flavor is not undone through overcooking or bad saucing: “keep a clean flavor…thou goat soup of our pleasure!” In an unusual twist, Sake instead of more traditional acidic options is used to counterbalance the goat fat. Though not the most popular of Will’s plates, it is one of our favorites.
O thou my lovely pot, who in thy low heat
Dost hold my stewed goat, the luscious melting meat
That hast by cooking shrunk, and therein it mixed
Its flavor within the vegetable broth fixed –
With Sake, sovereign liquor with some game
As the fat liquefies itself into the same
It keeps it to this purpose: that the texture
May not be disgraced, and keep a clean flavor.
Yet smell it, O thou goat soup of our pleasure!
The fat may threaten but still not subvert this treasure.
Our dish, though slow-cooked, fast eaten will be,
And with good red wine its quietus see.
Ingredients per person:
Goat, lamb or rabbit pieces, with the bone, about 250 grams
1 carrot
1 firm zucchini
Milk
Butter
Chives
1 potato
1 red onion, medium sized
1 garlic clove
1 white beet
Sake
Chicken broth (see Henry Vth)
Salt and pepper
Extra-Virgin olive oil
Rosemary
Parsley
1 celery stick
Cinnamon or 5 spices (optional)
Few things are easier to make, fewer things more satisfying to eat, and you can change the flavorings to taste, ie use ginger root or wild anise, don't add the rosemary or cinnamon, use a meat broth or water, cook the potatoes apart, ecc. The idea is good meat stewed low and slow.
Make sure to clean the meat well, not leaving much fat. You can marinade the pieces particularly if it isn't the most tender, in red wine, garlic, rosemary, pepper and a dash of cinnamon but if the meat’s of good young quality there’s no need. Just sear the pieces after a quick brush of olive oil in a deep, large pan or shallow pot on high heat, then add the roughly chopped onions or scallions, celery, then the garlic, ecc. and after a minute or two pour in the Sake or other liquor-wine. Once evaporated, season, adding a pinch of cinnamon or 5-spice if you like the taste and didn’t marinade, add the chunks of carrot, potato, onion and beet - make the pieces large as they will slowly cook - whatever herbs, then pour over enough broth to barely cover the whole. Partially cover, reduce the heat and cook slowly for 2-3 hours or until the meat is tender all the way through, almost falling by itself off the bone. Add water if necessary as the sauce reduces. Alternatively you can cook only the meat in the pan and first boil the potatoes (in bite-sized chunks) in broth for 10 minutes, adding the zucchini pieces 2 minutes into the boiling, remove from the flame and cool by in ice cold water. In turn remove the vegetables from their pan and set aside. Later, once the meat is ready, pass the veggies in a pan with butter flavored with diced garlic and chives or sage or whatever to your taste. Toss the vegetables in the butter a few minutes, adding salt and pepper just until they begin to brown, add a little milk if you's like a creamier texture, toss as the liquid reduces, and serve immediately. Near the end, check on the stew and uncover to evaporate - depending on the consistency you prefer for the sauce. By the end of the stewing it shouldn’t be at all watery, but cream-thick. Serve with a healthy, robust red like a good Montepulciano d’Abruzzo.
link: For to stewe mutton: http://www.godecookery.com/trscript/trsct047.html