Does That Taste a Little "Goat-y"?

Sometimes the Little Kitchen goes on a road trip. This is especially true this time of year when I'm officially too hot and stressed to cook very often. So Sunday evening I attended my second LIME dinner in as many weeks, though this time without the pirate outfit I sported last time ... but that's a story for another day.

This was was a truly underground dinner -- five courses of goat, with a starter goat cocktail. Although I played bartender, I thought the concoction of goat whey, rum, lime juice and sugar was, well, a bit "goat-y." Everyone seemed to love it, but I was a bit skeptical. Where was my Cardinal and tonic? Sigh. You know I drank it anyway ...

But then we were on to the meal itself, and the second course ended up being my favorite of all -- a flatbread made with housemade goat cheese along with goat sausage crumbles seasoned with an African berber spice blend. As you can see, I ate a piece before I remembered to take a picture:

OK, looks like it was two slices. Sorry.

But wow, it was amazing. It had an earthiness that was perfectly balanced by the crispy flatbread, and the microgreens were just a bit of bright to heighten the deep flavors. 

In the next course, the soup course, the goat was more like short ribs, and by the time we got to the goat chop crusted in pistachios and coconut, I had given up taking pictures, and instead was just eating, talking (no surprise there) and pouring wine for the other guests. 

Trident Tech student chef Helen Hayes tapped her inner alter ego (pictured below in tattoo form) and rocked it ninja-style in the kitchen, cooking multiple meat courses in the July heat and smiling through it all:

I won't even mention that this was her first time cooking goat. No one would ever notice. In fact, none of us are sure we believe her, the food was that awesome. And besides, who has the guts to make her professional chef debut underground cooking something she's never done? Right. No one.

As always, Dr. Ruth and Chef Renata, along with Ollie and the Gang, were great hosts. This was technically an iLIME dinner, a more informal setting for the dinner. It is a great way to experience your first underground dining experience -- it's more economical, more intimate, and all fun. 

And like me, you might discover a favorite new food, goat!