Yes, I was raised in Oklahoma, but I am really a Florida born, Gator girl. In honor of my southeastern heritage, last night The Mr. made us gator tail for dinner! It was a fun treat that we had something new and he did all the cooking!
I know, kind of crazy. I have had gator before, but it has always be fried. We all know fried anything is delicious. Don't deny it, you know you love the taste of little fried goodies. We just know better now than to eat them very often. Last night at Reasor's we stopped by the seafood section. He noticed a huge Alligator head and then fresh gator tail. I was kind of in shock when he asked for half a pound of it, but he was in an adventurous mood.
The cooking of the gator was left up to him. I have never even thought about cooking gator in my life so I had no idea how to approach it. The Mr. isn't scared in the kitchen. He went right to work. A little white wine, a little garlic and sea salt, some hazel nut butter in the bottom of the pan...(I know, he is way more creative than I am).
We had a bunch of grilled asparagus and green beans as sides. Yes, I eat green beans. Green = good. I honestly don't care if they are not "technically" paleo. They are healthy. End of story.
A few things that surprised me about gator:
1. It actually tasted really good. Whatever other stuff he used to cook it with was wonderful.
2. Gator is a bit tougher than I remember. Being a game meat I guess that makes sense. I really didn't know what to expect.
3. It was pretty fatty. I do not at all like the texture of fat. It is jelly. I don't mind it when it is marbled in with my meat, but if I can cut it off I always do. I had to remove quite a bit from my gator! He must have been in a well stocked swamp...
4. I would definitely eat it again! This is the great thing about finding a wonderful butcher...there will always be a good variety of meats. Mix it up!
I found this grilled Cajun gator recipe today. It sounds pretty good and insanely easy.
Don't forget you can still enter my 100th Post Giveaway!!! You have until Friday night.
On another note...I am seriously addicted to dried fruit. I might need an intervention.
I understand your obsession with dried fruit. Let's intervene on each other. I could eat a truck load of dried, tart cherries. And I know you hold a candle for dried pineapple. I guess when cupcakes are no longer an option, dried fruit becomes our "treat." I never thought I'd type that.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on the green beans. I'm (believe it or not) actually considering/leaning toward the Primal Blueprint, seeing B's results after 5 weeks on your challenge. I'm reading, studying, deciding. But I was cooking some fresh green beans last night, wondering how they could be "bad" and decided they weren't.
ReplyDeleteThey have alligator at Reasor's a lot these days. I might have to try it. Have you seen the bison steaks the sometimes sell? They are delicious!!