Braised Goat Shoulder with Sweet Paprika

I am very fortunate to live across the street from the largest farmers market in northern California, located in San Rafael near the Marin County civic center. It is a foodie's dream: tons of local organic produce, artisan chocolates, specialty cheeses and sustainably grown meats. A good friend of mine owns a booth there and turned me on to goat shoulders - such an excellent cut! The perfect combination of meat and fat, mmmmm...
I've been looking for different ways of preparing it and came upon a recipe which is the basis for the one below. My version is slightly different and adopted to a slow cooker instead of a dutch oven.

Source: shepherdsongfarm.com
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 5 hours
Yields: 3-4 servings

Ingredients:

• Goat shoulder (~ 2 lbs.)
• Salt, pepper, sweet paprika
• Cooking oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 small carrots, diced
• 3 stalks of celery, diced
• 1 cloves of garlic, chopped
• ½ cup dry white wine
• 2 tbsp. sherry vinegar, or white wine vinegar
• 3 cups bone broth
• 1 tbsp. ghee

Instructions:

1. 2 hours before cooking, sprinkle the goat liberally with salt, pepper, and a light (but thorough) dusting of sweet smoked paprika. Place in the fridge and bring out about 30 minutes before cooking.
2. Start the slow cooker on 'high'.
3. Heat oil in a large pan and brown the goat generously on all sides until very brown. Remove from the pan.
4. In the same oil fry the onion, garlic, celery, and carrots on medium-low for about 5 minutes.
5. Add white wine and sherry vinegar and cook for 3 minutes.
6. Add the broth and bring to boil.
7. Place the shoulder in the slow cooker and cover with the hot broth.
8. Don't be tempted to add salt! It's okay if the broth is a bit bland at this point.
9. Let cook far about 2 hours, then turn over the shoulder every hour or so. It should be very tender after a few turns, about 4-5 hours from the start.
10. Take out the shoulder and move it to a covered pan so it stays warm and moist.
11. Strain the broth and pour into a sauce pan. Bring to boil.
12. Turn the heat to 'low' and reduce the sauce until it is quite thick. It should take about 30 minutes and you should have about ½ cup left. Mix in the ghee. Add salt if necessary.
13. Cut shoulder into slices, place on a warm plate, cover with sauce and serve.

Vipassana Sunflower Soy Dressing

I was recently fortunate to visit the North California Vipassana Center again and help a bit in the kitchen. While there I made sure to get the recipe for the famous Sunflower Soy salad dressing which I've named years ago "Sunflower Crack". It's funny how so many students that undergo the retreat remember the salad dressing of all things as one of the highlights. To put in perspective: the other type of dressing they serve is a pretty yummy Italian Dressing, but the instructions in the kitchen are to prepare FOUR TIME more of the sunflower soy than the Italian because it is so popular. I've only seen one other website out there that shared the recipe, but the quantities were all wrong and it came out super salty. Here is the original and correct one:

Source: dhamma.org
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: N/A
Yields: 8 cups

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups sunflower seeds
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup soy sauce
• 3 cups canola oil (non-GMO)
• 1 cup cold water + 1 after blending

 Instructions:

1. Combine all (except last cup of water). 
2. Run in blender (Vitamix works best) until there are no traces of seeds, but don't over blend as it will get syrup-y.
3. Pour into container and whisk in the last cup of water.

For gluten-free option try substituting the soy sauce with tamari sauce and/or Bragg's aminos. If you're not into canola oil then go with another type of gentle flavor oil. Olive oil is probably not the most ideal for this dressing.