Gator?

[evilpsych]

anyone smoke gator before? how is it and how did you do it?

I finally found a place locally that can get it regularly in steaks instead of the usual ground patties that us northerners usually have to deal with.

[BigAl]

Dave Little, er, Chad should have some info on this.

[cabo]

anyone smoke gator before? how is it and how did you do it?


Very carefully and from a distance :shock: :twisted:

Sorry, couldn't help it :D :D

[parrothead]

Never smoked it. I was in the Biloxi area a couple of years ago, and they had gator nuggets everywhere we went to eat. Good Stuff.

Good luck with them steaks.

[racer_81]

Never smoked it. I was in the Biloxi area a couple of years ago, and they had gator nuggets everywhere we went to eat. Good Stuff.

Good luck with them steaks.

gator nuggets.....heh heh......

[BigAl]

Last night, the TV Food BBQ show had a short segment on guys grilling Gator. Commentator said it was good.

[cabo]

anyone smoke gator before? how is it and how did you do it?


Very carefully and from a distance :shock: :twisted:

Sorry, couldn't help it :D :D

OK! So it wasn't that funny!!!
I've had gator before, but it was deep fried.
It was gator tail, and it was outstanding.......

[evilpsych]

yeah the times i've had gator.. it's been freakin awesome. i shouldnt have said 'us northerners' either. just. living here in the north it's a little tough for a texan like me to find good food or recipes for decent bbq.. freakin weird 'tards up here by the bushel.

[BigAl]

anyone smoke gator before? how is it and how did you do it?


Very carefully and from a distance :shock: :twisted:

Sorry, couldn't help it :D :D

OK! So it wasn't that funny!!!
I've had gator before, but it was deep fried.
It was gator tail, and it was outstanding.......

It has been my experience that any time you get a piece of tail, it is outstanding!

[BigAl]

anyone smoke gator before? how is it and how did you do it?


Very carefully and from a distance :shock: :twisted:

Sorry, couldn't help it :D :D

OK! So it wasn't that funny!!!
I've had gator before, but it was deep fried.
It was gator tail, and it was outstanding.......

It has been my experience that any time you get a piece of tail, it is outstanding!

Did I ever tell you about the worst I ever had? It sure was good :!: :shock: :D

[Cuelio]

freakin weird 'tards up here by the bushel.

You live in the north?

I think I beat you by a few degrees.

[willkat98]

yeah the times i've had gator.. it's been freakin awesome. i shouldnt have said 'us northerners' either. just. living here in the north it's a little tough for a texan like me to find good food or recipes for decent bbq.. freakin weird 'tards up here by the bushel.

Um,,, Evil.
Your location says Kentucky.

Thats in the South.

[brdbbq]

Never smoked it. I was in the Biloxi area a couple of years ago, and they had gator nuggets everywhere we went to eat. Good Stuff.

Good luck with them steaks.

gator nuggets.....heh heh......

Lousiana Oysters ?

[evilpsych]

Um,,, Evil.
Your location says Kentucky.

Thats in the South.

Maybe for you. Kentucky's still north of Texas. :lol:

[willkat98]

Um,,, Evil.
Your location says Kentucky.

Thats in the South.

Maybe for you. Kentucky's still north of Texas. :lol:

I see, I see.

Was in this guys office on the east coast once.

New York was like 3/4 of the picture.

California was a sliver.

Think you got that same map, cept adjusted for Texas. You aint the only one with a large state my friend.

Illinois is 10 hours, top to bottom, at highway speeds.

Yes, Texas might be bigger, but anything south of Illinois is the South

[BigAl]

[quote=willkat98]Um,,, Evil.
Your location says Kentucky.

Thats in the South.



Illinois is 10 hours, top to bottom, at highway speeds.



And the absolute best part of Illinois is 1 mile east of St. Louis, Mo. East St. Louis, IL........If the towel head terrorist knew about East St. Louis, IL, there would be no more self-destruction attacks. It is Heaven on earth! :D :D :shock: :shock: :shock: :D :D :D

[racer_81]

Never smoked it. I was in the Biloxi area a couple of years ago, and they had gator nuggets everywhere we went to eat. Good Stuff.

Good luck with them steaks.

gator nuggets.....heh heh......

Lousiana Oysters ?

mountain oysters?

[racer_81]

Um,,, Evil.
Your location says Kentucky.

Thats in the South.

Maybe for you. Kentucky's still north of Texas. :lol:

...anything north of Texas is tundra......

[kcquer]

...anything north of Texas is tundra......

I spent a few weeks in San Antonio one summer a few years back, I'll take the tundra, it's plenty hot enough here.

[parrothead]

It is Heaven on earth!

Al, that is either sarcasm, or it's been awhile since you have been there.

[brdbbq]

It is Heaven on earth!

Al, that is either sarcasm, or it's been awhile since you have been there.

Amen to that brother we had a special name for East St Louis when I was growing up.

[BigAl]

It is Heaven on earth!

Al, that is either sarcasm, or it's been awhile since you have been there.

Amen to that brother we had a special name for East St Louis when I was growing up.

Try Centerville, Il @ PT's on any Saturday Night......NEVER any thing like that in Chic Town or anywhere else in the US for that matter :!: :D

[brdbbq]

Metropolis is bettter, Lois Lane is a hottie.

[BayouBound]

Most of the above looks like a geography lesson......

Back to the issue of Gator flavor,
Any recipes out there or do we season as for chicken.

The last gator I ate didn't taste like chicken at all. It tasted like fish(Imagine that).

This could be a question for the mama.

[brdbbq]

Only way I have ever had it is deep fired. Arw thinking of smoking ? Seems to lean for that.

[ciret]

I saw a FoodTV show last summer I think it was. Had a guy from Louisiana, he said they don't eat 'gator, just serve it to the dumb yankees.

I've never tried it so I can't comment from experiance.

[BayouBound]

Eric et all,
My mother-in-law, I'll call her mama, grew up in southwest Louisiana. She (and my bride) are as cajun as they come. They both grew up on whatever was available, catfish, crawfish, bluecrabs, alligator, duck, rabbit, turtle, etc. I have been traveling to that region for the last twenty years and hope to move down in the not too distant future. I have eaten some pretty unusual items over the years, thanks to mama. Some items only once and a few as often as I can sink my teeth into them (love that boudin)!

My dad in law (may he rest in peace) made the best brisket that I ever slung a lip over. I have tried and tried and I can't even come close to the food that that man cooked. He started the night before, sitting on the porch til' sun up, with his J.D. and his pile of wood. The brisket sat in the bottom of his, "coon-ass microwave". He tended the fire, which was on top of the lid, in a sunken section. No smoke inside, just heat radiated from the top down. He cooked it for about twent hours, as I recall.

I digress.....

I have eaten alligator on several occasions over the years (and I wasn't the only one eating it). It is like most foods in that it needs to be properly seasoned and prepared. One time it was fried, with some catfish. One time it was saute'd. I even cooked some in my first bandera event. Someone brought it over wrapped in foil and we threw it into the box. It wasn't seasoned and wasn't too good either.

I looked up a few recipies at my favorite cajun/creole recipe spot, www.gumbopages.com I also found a bunch of useful information and several recipes at http://www.alligatorfur.com/recipe.html

I found this simple alligator recipe from a google search (it's short so here it is):

ALLIGATOR, FRIED
Fried Alligator

2 lb. Florida alligator meat, cut into bite-sized pieces
Garlic, salt and pepper
3 Florida eggs
3/4 cup Florida milk
3/4 cup flour

Season alligator cubes with garlic, salt and pepper to your taste. Combine eggs, milk and mix well. Roll each piece of alligator in flour. Deep fry at 325 until golden brown.

There you have it. I hope that the next time some (dead) alligator finds you, it ends up in your pot, grill or bandera.

Next time we'll discuss the finer points of Nutria, the other white meat!

[evilpsych]

hrmm interesting. well. if it's too *lean*..here's my thinking.

2 gator steaks/patties
layer of bacon on the bottom (fatback anyone?)
layer of bacon in the middle,
layer of bacon on top - leaving some exposed for smoke flavoring.

should keep it moist, and keep the smoke from overpowering/overpenetrating the meat

[ciret]

Whoa, you eat nutria, they look like big rats! :mrgreen:

Well, I suppose if you 'cue it and sauce it, mm,mmm good :)

[racer_81]

Whoa, you eat nutria, they look like big rats! :mrgreen:

Well, I suppose if you 'cue it and sauce it, mm,mmm good :)


The nutria IS a rat. But then, so is a squirrel.

But that's no reason it can't be ..... good eats?

[BayouBound]

O.K., Here you go:

Louisiana Nutria Recipe
Chef Philippe Parola Commandeur des Cordon Bleu de France
Chef Parola Enterprises: Jackson, LA www.chef-parola.com
[now http://www.chefparolaconsulting.com/ -webmaster]

Heart Healthy "Crock-Pot" Nutria

2 hind saddle portions of nutria meat
1 tomato, cut in big wedges
2 carrots, sliced thin
1/2 cup white wine
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
1 cup demi glace (optional)
1 small onion, sliced thin
2 potatoes, sliced thin
Brussel sprouts
1 cup water
salt and pepper to taste


Layer onion, tomato, potatoes, carrots and Brussel sprouts in crock pot. Season nutria with salt, pepper and garlic to taste and place nutria over vegetables. Add wine and water, set crock pot on low and let cook until meat is tender. Cook for approximately 4 to 6 hours. Garnish with vegetables and demi glace (4 servings).

Please remember that nutria are a distructive influence on the ecology of the marshes and swamplands. They eat their way through the vegitation that holds everything together, thus causing erosion. Louisiana is loosing dozens of square miles of wetlands each year. This will have a devistating effect on our nation's domestic seafood industry (bbq shrimp anyone). The immediate threat is that the city of New Orleans will be devistated by the next hurricane that comes to town.

Mr. McIlhenny, the inventor of Tobasco sauce, brought the nutri to America in the 1800's, with good intentions. He was raising them in pens when a hurricane hit and they escaped. For more nutri info please visit: http://www.tabasco.com/info_booth/news/save_wetlands.cfm and http://www.voiceofthewetlands.com/

A dead nutri is a good nutri. I say, eat more nutri.

[racer_81]

Where my wife used to work, a couple of years back, the gators
would periodically snarf a nutria, swim over to the levee and
spit out the nutria.

If gators won't eat a nutria........that makes more for us
humans!!

[evilpsych]

The immediate threat is that the city of New Orleans will be devistated by the next hurricane that comes to town..

and the notoriously corrupt New Orleans City Government has nothing to do with the crumbling infrastructure around the city designed to prevent hurricane damage......but i digress..

anyway. thawing out 30lbs of brisket for sunday.

oh. anyone see that comedy central insomniac episode where dave was riding around with animal control shooting nutria in the canals with silenced .22LR rifles?

[BayouBound]

notoriously corrupt New Orleans City Government What large city in this country doesn't have a notoriously corrupt government?

The City of N.O. does not control the thousands of square miles of marshland between the city and the Gulf. The “notoriously corrupt New Orleans City Government” only controls the inland levees and the pumps that remove the water from the basin that the city lies within, once it arrives. It is predicted that a severe hurricane and the tidal surge that follows, could kill thousands. Both of these conditions are reduced by miles of healthy marsh. This is the same marsh that acts as a nursery for a large part of the domestic shrimp industry. Blue crabs and many fish species grow big and tasty on these shrimp also.

The marsh is not well for several reasons. Canals have been cut through them to provide fuel pipelines to our local Chevron stations. They are bringing salt water inland and are killing the marsh grass with high salt concentrations. The lack of annual planned flooding, thanks to the Corps of Engineers "controlling" the Mississippi, has resulted in the delta sinking into the sea. Controlling the Mississippi is good, replacing sinking soil is good also (they forgot about this part until more recently). The damage that the nutria are doing to the vegetation and levees while eating their way to our dinner plates is doing serious damage as well. There are millions of nutria in the marsh. There are so many that there is actually a bounty on them.

I do know that by not swerving when you see one of these little buggers in your headlights (or using a silenced 22) you will be doing your part to save the planet. Heck, you may even be getting yourself some free meat for your Q.

[rusold]

My God,

They are large rats that swim well - the recipes are a joke - right

R

[racer_81]

There are millions of nutria in the marsh. There are so many that there is actually a bounty on them.



A bounty? How much of a bounty?

I figure a lot of stress can be relieved by helping out the
fine folks in Louisiana with their nutria problem.

[brdbbq]

Kentucky Long Rifle Mod

[BayouBound]

It's $4 per tail. And better yet you can still eat all of that delicious meat!

Here's a link: http://www.wildlifedamagecontrol.com/animaluse/trapresearch/animaldamage/nutria.htm

[Jorge]

There are millions of nutria in the marsh. There are so many that there is actually a bounty on them.



A bounty? How much of a bounty?

I figure a lot of stress can be relieved by helping out the
fine folks in Louisiana with their nutria problem.

Have excess .22-250 and .223. Try to avoid La. though. I really was the only innocent person on Bourbon St. that night, honest :oops: