Moroccan goat chili

I love my slow cooker. Just drop in some ingredients in the morning, and by the time I get home from work there is a hot delicious dinner ready. As a single woman who lives alone, coming home to a hot meal is such a luxury. I used ground goat in an adaptation of the Moroccan Beef Chili recipe in my America's Test Kitchen slow cooker cookbook, a resource I use often. The recipe calls for a panade (a mix of white bread and milk that is meant to keep ground meat tender), but I find it hard to justify buying an entire loaf of bread just for one slice, or opening a container of milk for a couple of tablespoons. I left it out this time, and the chili turned out just fine.

To accompany this chili, I decided to try my hand at cauliflower couscous. It's pretty easy. Pulse some cauliflower in a food processor until the cauliflower is chopped to about the size of cous cous. One important lesson I learned during this first pass is that an entire head of cauliflower does not fit in my food processor (and mine is relatively large). Don't force it. You'll just get a bunch of cauliflower mush in the bottom of your work bowl and some big cauliflower chunks.

Moroccan goat chili
Adapted from Slow Cooker Revolution

Ingredients
1 pound ground goat
2 onions, diced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
3 garlic cloves, pressed
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon (the recipe calls for 1/4 teaspoon, but I like cinnamon)
A pinch of cayenne pepper
1 can tomato sauce (15 oz)
1 can whole tomatoes (15 oz), diced
1 can chickpeas (15 oz)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
A large handful of golden raisins
A few sprigs of mint, roughly chopped
Juice and zest from 1/2 a lemon

Method
1. Coat a skillet with olive oil and heat over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the onions, tomato paste, garlic, and spices. Cook until the onions are soft and starting to brown, 8 to 10 minutes.

2. Add the goat to the pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and stir to combine, breaking up any large pieces of ground meat. Cook until the meat is no longer pink; this can be a little tricky to see with the paprika, but should be about 3-5 minutes.

3. Stir the tomato sauce into the meat mixture and scrape up any browned bits at the bottom of the pan. Carefully transfer to your slow cooker (this can be a messy step).

4. Stir in the diced tomatoes (it tastes better when you buy whole tomatoes and dice them yourself), chickpeas, and soy sauce. Cover and cook for 6-8 hours on low or 3 to 5 hours on high. I generally stick to the middle of the range (7 hours on low, 4 hours on high), but get to know your slow cooker and adjust accordingly.

5. When you return home, enjoy the delicious smells filling your house. Stir in the raisins, mint, and lemon. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve over cous cous (regular or cauliflower-based).

Cauliflower cous cous

Ingredients
1/4 head of cauliflower, roughly chopped
1/4 cup of water or stock
Generous sprinkle of smoked paprika
Juice and zest from 1/2 a lemon
A few sprigs of mint, roughly chopped

Method

1. Add the cauliflower to the work bowl of your food processor. Pulse until it turns into the consistency of cous cous.

2. Coat the bottom of a skillet with olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the cauliflower to your pan. Cook for a few minutes, until it is beginning to brown.

3. Add the water/stock, paprika, and lemon to the pan. Bring to a simmer and cover. Cook until the water is absorbed into the cauliflower and it resembles the consistency of cous cous.

4. Add the mint and season with salt to taste.