Gator

[Fletch]

Met up with a buddy of mine. He is originally from Rochester and he now works down in Atlanta for me. He brought me up some gator tail from a 9 ft gator he got this past year. He also brought me a couple wild hog shoulders and a loin from a hog he got a couple weeks ago.

 

Man I chunked up that gator tail soaked it in cold milk for an hour and dropped it in flour mixed with Cajun seasoning and deep fried.

 

Dang that was some good stuff!!

 

 

[Fletch]

[Fletch]

Oh here he is prior to being a snack.

[BellR]

My favorite way to make it is coconut crusted gator bites. 

 

1)Tenderize gator

2) Cut into 1" cubes

3) Coat with flour

4) Egg wash

5) Coat with shaved coconut

6) Wait 10-15 min so the coconut sticks on well

7) Pan Fry

8 )Make a sauce by heating about 1-2 cups of OJ to a boil with a little salt. 

9)Once it start to boil add chopped basil and then some heavy whipping cream until it is good and thick.

10) Serve and enjoy.

Edited July 10, 2015 by BellR

[dbHunterNY]

gator is good.... kind of like tasty dark meat chicken.

[Pygmy]

How do you tenderize a gator ?

Run over him with a bulldozer 3 or 4 times ?

[BellR]

Or with a kitchen mallet. Either works.

[Fletch]

I am no expert but from what I hear the tail is the only good meat. What I had I did not tenderize at all and it was real good. texture of maybe a tender pork chop I would say. My buddy said he tried cutting steaks and grilling and a bunch of other ways but none were any good but chunking and frying.

[BellR]

Not true at all.  Some of the best meat I've had from a gator came from the jowl.  The tail is good as well, but unless you are talking about the jellyroll (tenderloin) usually there is quite a bit of connective tissue and it needs to be tenderized.  Another of my favorite cuts are the ribs.  Put them in a foil pack with a couple slices of bacon and some seasoning and throw on the grill.  We have also had the whole arms/legs marinated in Italian salad dressing over night and grilled up and they came out very good.  For the other assorted meat we trim off, we generally make sausage out of it. 

 

As a rule of thumb, you never want to break open any organs so I have never tried the liver or heart, but otherwise we try to make use of ever bit of meat on the carcass the same as deer.

[Five Seasons]

fried gator bites are some of the best eats around. I had a bunch when I was down in new orleans and baton rouge. a little chewy but delicious.

[Lawdwaz]

How do you tenderize a gator ?

Run over him with a bulldozer 3 or 4 times ?

 

Hell I thought this was going to be about a Canadian Gator.

 

 

 

[Pygmy]

Hell I thought this was going to be about a Canadian Gator.

 

 

Nawww....If you tried to run over my buddy Gator with a bulldozer, he'd SHOOT your Yankee ass...

[WNYBuckHunter]

Gator is very good blackened as well. Just needs to be tenderized and cooked correctly. Deep fried is great, as is Etouffee.

[Carbonelement]

Gator is very good a good friend of mine is a guide in Florida, i have eaten a few gators and chunked rolled in mustard and fried is about as good as anything