Oliver Rowe’s Slow-Cooked Kid
'Kid and goat are very versatile and go with the same sort of flavours as lamb does - both subtle and seductive and strong and full-flavoured. This recipe matches it with punchy flavours, such as anchovy, capers, mustard and lots of herbs. Despite the strong flavours they don’t overpower, mingling gently in the long, low heat of the oven. There isn’t a huge amount of preparation involved, but an hour or two marinating before going in the oven won’t hurt.' Oliver Rowe
Ingredients
1 shoulder of kid, skin on, bone in (about 2–2.5kg)
6 garlic cloves
6 anchovy fillets
1½ heaped tbsp capers
1 tbsp wholegrain or Dijon mustard
3 sprigs of fresh rosemary
4 sticks of celery
3 carrots
1 onion
2 bay leaves
1 sprig of thyme
1½ glasses white wine
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Remove the kid from the fridge and trim any excessively fatty bits, but don’t be too severe as the fat keeps the meat moist and full of flavour. A lot of the fat melts during the cooking and is easily skimmed from the resulting juices.
Crush the garlic to a fine purée in a pestle and mortar with a teaspoon of salt. Strip and chop the rosemary and add it to the mortar with the anchovy and capers, and crush them all in too. Add the Dijon mustard and a good pinch of black pepper, and combine. This mixture is quite intense and should provide enough seasoning for the dish, but it all depends on the size of the kid shoulder, so if you feel it might need a little more salt then add it now.
Rub the mixture over the kid shoulder, making sure to massage it into the skin and any nooks and crannies. Cover and leave in the fridge for an hour or two.
Preheat the oven to 95°c. Trim and clean the celery, cut it into 3–4 inch lengths. Peel, trim and cut the carrots in half lengthwise and then into thirds. Peel and cut the onion into chunky wedges. Put the kid into a generous baking tray and arrange the vegetables, bay leaves and thyme around it. Pour the wine in over the vegetables – don’t let it wash the rub of the kid. Scrunch up a piece of baking parchment large enough to cover the tray and run it under the tap. Gently squeeze it a few times and unfurl it, then put it over the kid and the vegetables and tuck it in around the edges. Cover very tightly with tin foil.
Put the kid in the oven and go to bed, or to work, or for a long walk. It’s almost impossible to overcook the kid at this temperature, so don’t be scared to leave it for a long, long time – 8, 9 or even 10 hours will be fine.
Remove the kid from the oven an hour and a half before you want to serve it. Check it’s done and leave it to rest with the tin foil on for 30 minutes. Remove the vegetables but do not discard, then strain the liquid into a jug. Set this aside and leave to settle before skimming off the fat.
You can cook it to this stage well in advance – even a couple of days ahead. If you do, remove from the fridge for at least an hour to come up to room temperature before moving on to the next step. Leaving the juices – strained but un-skimmed and unreduced – in the fridge overnight makes it very easy to remove the solidified fat that will rise to the surface.
Half an hour before you want to serve the kid, preheat the oven to 220°c and cook for about 10 minutes or until the skin is golden brown and the meat is gently warmed through. Heat the vegetables in the oven too.
Reduce the juices to thicken a little but keep an eye on the seasoning – it can easily become too salty.
Remove the kid from the oven and pull the bones from the joint. They should come out very easily and it will pretty much fall apart at this point. Discard the bones and pull the meat into nice big chunks, discarding any large and unpleasant fat deposits. Transfer to a warm platter, cover with tin foil and leave to rest. Put the vegetables on the platter next to the kid and drizzle some of the seasoned juices over the top of both. Serve the rest in a warm jug.
Be careful to serve everything nice and hot as cold goat can be unappetising. Delicious with mashed potato and a well-dressed fresh green salad.
