I was driving around in Saskatchewan last summer with my honey. In a small town somewhere near a Doukhobor settlement (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doukhobor), we stopped for gas. Looking around in the gas station store for snacks, we found a huge chest freezer labeled "Terry's Shishliki". Hoping for some kind of Eastern Euro ice cream sandwich, we looked inside - and instead found a pile of frozen, shrink-wrapped meat skewers! Unfortunately we couldn't bring any home with us, but I found a recipe for Shishliki on a Ukranian website. This gas station was not the last place we saw Terry's wares - you can actually trace a path as for north as Hecla and as far east as Selkirk. A trail of Shishliki guided us back to Winnipeg like stars in the night sky.I thought I'd try it with goat meat, which is really common in Caribbean cooking, instead of the typical lamb. To me, there's not much that's tastier than a nice piece of mutton. I could eat stew goat or curry goat 8 days a week. Goat Shishliki? Why not!
It turns out there's a good reason why not. Even after tenderizing in a nice piquant marinade from 2 to 10pm, the goat meat came out really tough when grilled. Apparently goat needs to be simmered in a big stewing pot of curry for hours in order to be chewable. I have never chewed so hard in my life. The flavour was nice, but not worth the jaw workout. We had this with some brussels sprouts, quick-boiled and tossed with a splash of lemon juice, fresh black pepper and sea salt. These, at least, were yummy and masticatable. Sometimes you hit, sometimes you miss...
I am posting the recipe below but do not take responsibility for any TMJ issues arising from the consumption of Goat Shishliki. It's Just Not A Good Idea, people!
RECIPE
Marika's Goat Shishliki
Serves 2-4.
2-3 lb stew goat
1/2 c cooking oil (the Ukranians didn't specify, so I used 1/4 c olive and 1/4 c canola)
1/2 c vinegar (I used balsamic)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
20 peppercorns
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp salt
1. Put the meat pieces in a bowl.
2. Combine all the ingredients, pour over the meat, and mix.
3. Cover and let stand for 2 hours or longer at room temperature to marinate. I imagine that if you used lamb or beef, this would serve to tenderize the meat. In the case of goat, it just makes the meat oily and vinegary. Which is better than dry AND tough.
4. Drain the meat and pat dry each piece.
5. Arrange the meat cubes on a skewer. Brush the filled skewers with cooking oil.
6. Place the skewers under the broiler close to strong heat. Turn the skewers every few minutes and baste frequently with cooking oil or with the fat that drips into the pan. Total broiling time will be about 12 minutes.
7. Slip the meat off the skewers onto a hot plate and season with salt and pepper.
