Bode Guisado Pernambucano

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 5-liter pot or Dutch oven
• •Tongs
• •Wooden spoon
• •Measuring cups and spoons
• •5- to 6-quart slow cooker, optional

Instructions

1. 1

   Season the goat

   Put the goat pieces in a large bowl. Add the lime juice or vinegar, salt, black pepper, cumin, and 1 teaspoon of the colorau, then toss with your hands until every piece is stained red-orange. Let it sit 30 minutes while you chop. The acid brightens the meat and the salt starts moving inward, but don't leave it on the counter longer than that. If you're seasoning ahead, cover and refrigerate.

   Don't rinse raw goat under the tap. Toss it with acid in the bowl instead. Rinsing splashes raw meat water around the sink, and a gente has enough problems without inventing new ones.
2. 2

   Brown in batches

   Pat the goat pieces dry where they look wet, then heat 2 tablespoons of the oil or lard in a heavy 5-liter pot over medium-high heat. Brown the goat in batches, about 3 to 4 minutes per side, until the edges are deep brown and the pot has dark stuck bits on the bottom. Move each batch to a plate. Do not crowd the pan. Crowd it and the meat releases water, the heat drops, and you're steaming grey goat instead of building flavor.

3. 3

   Start the refogado

   Lower the heat to medium and add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil or lard if the pot looks dry. Add the onions with a small pinch of salt and refogar, stirring often, until they go soft, sweet-smelling, and golden at the edges, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, just until you smell it. Stir in the remaining 1 teaspoon colorau for 30 seconds, until the fat turns brick-red. Colorau blooms in fat; burn it and it tastes dusty and bitter.

4. 4

   Murchar the vegetables

   Add the bell pepper, tomatoes, and chile, if using. Cook until the tomatoes collapse, the pimentão softens, and the mixture looks thick and shiny, about 5 to 7 minutes. Scrape the bottom of the pot as the tomatoes release their juice. Those brown bits are not dirt, pelo amor. They're the flavor from the goat, and the tomato pulls them into the molho.

5. 5

   Cook until tender

   Return the goat and any juices on the plate to the pot. Add the bay leaf and 2 1/2 cups hot water, enough to come about halfway up the meat, not drown it. Bring to a boil, then lower to a gentle simmer with the lid slightly ajar. Cook 1 1/2 to 2 hours, turning the pieces now and then and adding water 1/2 cup at a time if the pot gets dry, until a fork slides through the thickest piece. Low, steady heat gives the connective tissue time to soften. A hard boil tightens the meat and bullies the molho.

6. 6

   Add potatoes

   If you're using potatoes, add them when the goat is almost tender, usually for the last 25 minutes. Push them down into the molho, cover again, and cook until a knife goes through without a fight. Add them too early and they dissolve into the sauce; add them too late and the meat waits around while the potatoes catch up.

7. 7

   Finish the molho

   Uncover the pot and simmer 10 to 15 minutes if the molho looks thin, until it coats a spoon and leaves a glossy trail when stirred. Turn off the heat, stir in the cilantro, scallions, and the final tablespoon of lime juice or vinegar if the stew tastes heavy. Rest 10 minutes before serving. The herbs stay fresh this way, and the rest lets the sauce settle around the meat instead of running all over the plate.

8. 8

   Serve the plate

   Serve the bode with arroz branco soltinho, beans, couve refogada, and farofa. Spoon the molho over the rice because rice was made for this kind of work. If you're making beans from scratch for the pê-efe, soak them overnight so they cook evenly and sit easier, then mash a ladle of cooked beans into their refogado so the caldo turns creamy instead of watery. That's not extra theory. That's dinner behaving.

Chef Tips

• •Buy goat that smells clean and mildly grassy, never sour. Bone-in shoulder or leg gives the best molho because the bones and connective tissue bring body. If your goat is from an older animal, that's not a tragedy. It just needs more time.
• •Ask the butcher to cut the goat into stew pieces. That's an honest shortcut. It saves you from fighting bones at home, but it doesn't replace browning, refogado, or patience.
• •Buy plain colorau, ground urucum, not a complete seasoning mix. Colorau gives color and a gentle earthy taste. A salt-heavy packet makes every pot taste like the packet.
• •The slow cooker version works after the pan work. Brown the goat and make the refogado, then transfer everything to a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker with 1 1/2 cups hot water. Cook on low for 6 to 7 hours or high for 3 1/2 to 4 hours, adding potatoes for the last hour. It saves attention, but it cannot brown meat for you.
• •This stew is better after a rest. Make it in the afternoon for dinner, or make it a day ahead and reheat gently with a splash of water. The molho thickens and the goat tastes more like itself.

Advance Preparation

• •The goat can be seasoned and refrigerated up to 24 hours ahead. Let it sit out 20 minutes while you chop, then pat wet surfaces dry before browning.
• •Bode guisado keeps 4 days in the refrigerator and freezes for up to 3 months. Freeze in portions with plenty of molho so the meat reheats gently.
• •If serving with feijão from scratch, soak dried beans overnight, at least 8 hours. They cook more evenly and sit easier, and the mashed-ladle trick in the refogado gives you creamy caldo without a packet.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 600g)