Get to Know the GOAT Goat Tacos
Featuring a Taco Queen special recipe plus my top 3 local brunches...
If you live in London, you might have heard of Taco Queen. If you live in South East London, it’s maybe one of your favourite places to eat. If you live in neither place, you can pretend you’re eating there by following this recipe…
I had the fortune of working in the kitchen at TQ a few years ago, and it was a riveting experience all round. Nothing quite like a bit of high-octane deep fat frying to really get those juices flowing and that heart beat racing, know what I mean?
The legend that is Ryan (co-owner) has given me a recipe to share with you all and I’m very excited about it because it’s truly delicious. There are also so many things you can do with any leftovers, one of which I’ll be sharing in my £ subs newsletter (along with a discount for Mexican Mama on key ingredients) this week. This is a long one but it will result in a feast, so strap in compadres.
A NOTE FOR VEGETARIANS
I recommend making the sauce in the recipe below with vegetable stock instead of chicken, then stirring cooked black beans through the sauce.
¡Let’s go!
Goat Barbacoa Tacos
Serves 8-12
2kg goat shoulder, bone in (you could use mutton or lamb if you can’t find goat)
½ large white onion in slices
3 bay leaves
Corn tortillas
For the sauce
3-4 ancho chillies
2 chipotle pepper (from a can)
4 cloves garlic
700ml chicken stock
150ml orange juice
2 tbsp cumin
2 tbsp ground coriander
2 tbsp dried oregano
2 tsp salt
½ cinnamon stick
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
125ml veg or sunflower oil
Season the goat or mutton shoulder, then brown the goat meat in a wide pot using 125ml oil. Ensure it gets nice colour everywhere possible.
Meanwhile, make the sauce. Boil the chicken stock, toast the anchos, spices, oregano and garlic. Add them all into the stock.
Add the orange juice, vinegar, sugar then blend well until smooth. You might need to do this in two batches due to the quantity - it’ll depend on the size of your blender.
When the goat is browned, remove from the pot then add half of the onion and bay leaves to the bottom of the pan.
Add the goat back to the pan then cover it in the sauce thoroughly. Add the remaining onion.
Cook, covered, on a low simmer for 3 to 3 ½ hours. Use an extra seal of tin foil if your lid has any gaps that let out too much steam. After 1 hour, carefully open the pot (minding the steam doesn’t burn you), check it, and rotate the meat in the pot. Cook for the remaining time - it’s done when the meat is falling off the bone.
P.S. Don’t throw away the bones! Bring them all up to the boil in 3L water with salt, pepper and any excess bits of onion, then turn to low and simmer for 2 hours until reduced and flavoursome. Freeze and use for cooking rice/orzo, or to make the recipe I’ll share on Thursday.
Avocado Sauce
Keeps well in the fridge for 2-3 days.
1 ½ avocados
2 large garlic cloves
½ small white/brown onion
150g tomatillos*
1 green habanero (AKA scotch bonnet)
100ml lime juice
10g coriander
100ml veg or sunflower oil
Salt to taste
Put all ingredients in a blender and pulse until smooth. Taste for seasoning and add more salt/lime if necessary. More avocado would cool it down if it’s too spicy.
*I recommend blending up the remaining tomatillos if you bought a big can and popping in the freezer, ready for the next time you want tacos. You can then blend those with fresh coriander, lime juice, pickled jalapeños and onion and heat in a pan until a little reduced for a very nice green salsa.
Pink Pickled Onions
These will keep in the fridge for 5 days.
2 red onions
110ml rice vinegar
½ tbsp oregano
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp sea salt
Slice 2 red onions uniformly (it’s easiest on a mandolin if you have one).
In a saucepan, bring the vinegar, oregano, brown sugar and salt to a boil and pour onto the onions through a sieve. If you need any extra liquid add a splash of boiling water. Squash a scotch bonnet if you have one and add it to the mixture. Weigh the pickles down with something heavy to macerate. They’re ready to use after 30 minutes but better after a few hours.
If pickled onion isn’t your thing, top with grilled pineapple. Just slice a one inch disc of pineapple into long 2mm strips and fry these in a dry frying pan until browned and smelling delicious.
Assembly
When you’re ready to eat your tacos, simply heat a tortilla in a dry pan on both sides until it’s rough to the touch, then top with some of the goat meat, dollops of avocado sauce, and pink onions or pineapple (or both).
Brunches in London
E Pellicci is always worth the trip over the river to Bethnal Green Road (which otherwise has little else going for it). This ‘Britalian’ caff that’s been going since 1900 would be worth a visit just for the pleasure of listening to owners Nev and Anna’s banter, or taking in the gorgeous art deco stained glass and Kat Slater wall art, but the food is exceptional which makes it a triple threat of a brunch location. The cannelloni with chips or Pellicci Penne with bolognese sauce and a side of schnitzel are my top picks, because where else can you eat pasta for breakfast?
Some of you may know that I used to live in Melbourne, and alongside my friends, and the surrounding countryside, the city’s breakfasts are one of the things I most miss. Juliet’s in Tooting is owned by Aussies and does a great job of making you feel like you’ve left the scuzzy streets of South London for a fleeting moment and dived head first into the scent of gum trees and the sound of cicadas. The Vadouvan eggs with yogurt, chilli, carrot, samphire and dill are how I like to say: to-die-for. But the omelettes and corn fritters are not going to let you down either. The East-West transport dead-zone makes it a mission to get to from where I live, but it’s only a couple of bus trips or a trundle on the Northern Line from most suburbs. And then you can go and stock up on vegetables like dudhi and fenugreek in Tooting’s many South Asian grocers, so it’s worth the trip.
Normans is a café in North London that people on Twitter like to make fun of because the owner clearly cares about graphic design and Instagram. I say: turn that suspicion into admission… that it’s great. The food is delicious and the service is friendly and your hang-ups are only because you probably haven’t ever eaten the food. Two breakfasts with coffees for £13 is a bargain and I for one salute the café making that happen in 2022. What did Norman’s ever do to you? Kuh. For real though, those muffins with sausage, Red Leicester, homemade HP and hash brown are the stuff that dreams are made of. I’d like to see this mighty muffin take on the Vadouvan eggs from Juliette’s in an arm wrestle because I do not know who would win.
I’ll see you next time, or on Thursday if you’re a paid sub.
Saludos and besos hombres y mujeres.