Asparagus and Goat Stroganoff: Things just goat serious!!

After the worst winter ever, it is now Farmers' market time in Chicago! Which means fresh local vegetables and local meat products. Mint Creek Farm provides grass-fed meats raised on certified organic pastures.  I had my heart set on picking up some ground lamb, but since I arrived a little late in the morning, they were all sold out. However, after a little convincing that it tasted very similar to ground lamb, I purchased a pound of ground goat. In addition, I picked up some beautiful asparagus and green onions. Now...what to do with asparagus, green onions and ground goat???

Well, if the Mint Creek Farm sales rep guy was to believed, then ground goat tastes like ground lamb and since ground lamb can often be used in recipes that call for ground beef, I should be able to use ground goat in a ground beef recipe. After a bit of "hmming", I decided that I would make a ground goat and asparagus stroganoff and top it off with the green onions.  Delish!

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground goat
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 - 3 tablespoons butter
• 8 oz fresh sliced mushrooms
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp ground mustard
• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese (preferably Philadelphia cream cheese 1/3 less fat)
• 2/3 c. milk
• 1 lb fresh asparagus
• 2-3 green onions, chopped
• 8 oz wide egg noodles
• paprika
• olive oil

Directions

• Put two pots of water on to boil - one for the asparagus and one for the egg noodles.
• In a large skillet, cook the goat and onion together in the butter until the goat is thoroughly cooked (i.e. no longer pink).
• Add the mushrooms, salt, pepper and mustard and cook until the mushrooms have reduced in size and are tender.
• When the water for the asparagus comes to a boil, add the asparagus, cover and boil for 3 minutes. Drain and immediately place asparagus in ice water. Drain and pat dry.
• When the water for the egg noodles comes to a boil, add the noodles and cook until al dente (~ 7 minutes). When done, drain and rinse with cool water. Place the noodles back in the pot and drizzle a small amount of olive oil over them and mix to prevent the noodles from sticking together.
• In the meantime, add the cream cheese, milk and flour and stir until the cream cheese has melted and the sauce has thickened slightly.
• On each plate, place some noodles, 4-5 asparagus, cover with the stroganoff and top with the green onions. Serve.