Eat Them Before They Eat You

Tonight, our theme for cooking was, "Eat them before they eat you!"  We decided to cook Gator Bites...that's right, alligator in bite-sized chunks.  Where did the idea of gator to eat come from?  It's mainly from our scampers to St. Pete Beach, Florida where we eat at a place called Silas' Steakhouse.  In fact, we're planning to head back down very soon to see our granddaughter, Corey May.  And we'll also be headed back down to St. Pete BEACH!  Why?  Because we like it!

Kathy and I picked up the gator meat from Nick's of Clinton last week thinking we would be cooking them last Saturday, but a stomach bug said otherwise! Ugh!  So, tonight was the night for it instead.

We ran by McKay's for buttermilk to soak the gator meat, and picked up some jalapeno and red pepper that will be diced and added to fried potatoes.  (It's fried potatoes with a kick in the pants!)  We also settled for some coleslaw from Mckay's.  We usually get it from Copsey's Seafood in Mechanicsville.  (Holler out to Marie for her killer coleslaw!)  Then we were on our way home...

We diced up onions and tossed them in with the jalapeno and red pepper as Kathy fried the potatoes.  (Take a peek at the pic...What a beautiful mix of colors and taste!) 

Flour, of coarse, is what we used for frying the gator, but not without some doctoring.  Salt, pepper and garlic powder joined the flour and waited to gently coat the gator.  Next came dipping the gator in the flour mixture, while handling the gator chunks with the hands of a mother: gentle but firm.  Then we plopped them into the deep fryer.

Earlier today, we made a remoulade sauce that contained creole mustard, ketchup, horseradish, mayonnaise, tobasco, and a dash of white vinegar.  You have to have dippin' sauce!  Come on somebody!

After prep and 35 minutes of cooking, we sat down to eat our experimental plate.  Overall opinion: Not Bad.  It tastes like chicken!  No, just kidding.  It doesn't at all.  It's not gamey, but something like calamari.  You have to try it!

Food Scale Score: 3.0

We will do it again....but maybe with a different sauce?!

Gator Bite Recipe: