george's barbequed goat

SAUCE Date: Tue, 23 Apr 1996 14:05:59 -0500 From: rael@...

This is from _The Hand-Me-Down Cookbook_ by Cherry Parker & Frances Bradsher (copywrite 1969 by Moore Publishing Company, Durham, North Carolina. Libr. of Cong. Cat. Card No.: 70-99140) "Each July the 4th, George Pilkinton entertains his friends and neighbors in McNairy County, Tennessee with a goat barbeque. He butchers the meat himself, and says the secret of clean tasting mutton lies in keeping the hide from ever touching the meat. He lets the carcass stand for at least 12 hours in a cool place, then he cuts it in half or in quarters to make handling easier. For tenderness, he prefers a young, 30-pound goat which, when dressed, will equal 15 pounds of mutton.

"The barbequeing is done over a pit dug in the ground. It is 18 inches deep and has a wire rack for holding the meat. A large fire is built in the pit, using hickory wood for top flavor (red or white oak is George's second choice of wood, and he never uses pine since it will make the meat taste).

The meat is put on the rack when the fire has burned down to hot coals; meanwhile, George keeps a small fire going aside from the meat so that he will have hot glowing coals to continually push under the meat. He also constructs his pit so that pieces of tin roofing can be placed over the meat without touching it, and he keeps sufficient coals so that the tin remains hot enough so that he can't hold is hand on it for more than a couple of seconds.

"While the goat is cooking, it is basted with the following sauce: "George says, 'For thicker sauce use less wine. For low quality sauce, use vinegar instead of wine.' Then he adds, 'Cooking time depends upon how well the fireman tends the fire and is not distracted too much sipping the homemade wine. About 4 to 5 hours should do for a small goat." CHILE-HEADS DIGEST V2 #302 From the Chile-Heads recipe list. Downloaded from Glen's MM Recipe Archive, .