Gator Feet! What should I do?!

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dougmays

Master of the Pit
Original poster
OTBS Member
Nov 18, 2010
2,563
96
Gainesville, FL
Howdy all! I'm smoking a pig with some friends tomorrow (sunday) and on friend's girlfriend is bringing gator feet. I told them i'd figure something out with them, but honestly i have no clue!

My gut tells me to skin them and throw them in a pan with some onion, garlic and celery and lliquid and simmer in the smoke while the pig cooks...then throw that in some kind of stew/gumbo. But i wanted to reach out and see if anyone has done these before and had any other ideas.

Much appreciated and Q-view will commence tomorrow AM
 
 
Howdy all! I'm smoking a pig with some friends tomorrow (sunday) and on friend's girlfriend is bringing gator feet. I told them i'd figure something out with them, but honestly i have no clue!

My gut tells me to skin them and throw them in a pan with some onion, garlic and celery and lliquid and simmer in the smoke while the pig cooks...then throw that in some kind of stew/gumbo. But i wanted to reach out and see if anyone has done these before and had any other ideas.

Much appreciated and Q-view will commence tomorrow AM
My only interaction with a gator was when I was golfing down in Florida and the critter wouldn't let me have my golf ball back.  I thought of and wanted to take off its feet but didn't know how...LOL!

Good Luck,

John
 
Just so happens my wife and I are going out for gator, mud-bugs and lamb nuts tonight, all a rarity in these parts.

As for the gator feet, consider preparing them as you would dim sum chicken feet, should work fine.

T
 
The legs and I assume the feet, are the dark meat of the gator. Myself, I would probably do a Sauce Piquant. The gator will be extremely tuff because if it was a small young gator no one would mess with the feet. But a sauce piquant is  probably the longest cook in a coonazz's repertoire, its used on the tuffer meats, like gator and turtle.

Just my two cents.

A good sauce piquant is great for bouree on Wednesday nights. Not at all unusually to clean out the reefer into it. Hot pickled veggies, carrots cauliflower mushrooms garlic etc is very common. Its basically nothing more than a hot creole.

PS... make sure that its clean, the fat has a nasty taste.
 
Last edited:
Doug,

Since Kevin suggested piquant sauce, here is a gator piquant I have made many times. It's very good, but I don't know if you can get the meat you need out of the feet, maybe add some chicken too, or tell her the chicken is the gator. Anyhow here's the recipe.

Smoked Alligator & Sausage Piquant

 

1to 1.5 lb    tail meat cut into ½ inch cubes

1 lb             smoked beef sausage, Andouille is best (ready to eat)

1 c              canola oil

1 c              flour

2 c              diced onion

2 c              diced celery

1 ½ c          diced bell pepper

½ c             minced garlic

2                 10oz cans Ro’tel tomatoes w/green chili’s

4 cans         chicken broth (about 2 quarts)       

1 tsp            salt

1 tsp            pepper

1 tbs            La hot sauce

 

Make dark brown roux with the oil and flour

In a large cast iron pot put a little oil in the bottom & brown gator & sauté the onions, celery, bell pepper and garlic 3 to 5 min until veggies are wilted, being careful not to burn the garlic.

Add the sausage & roux, stirring in with veggies.

Add tomatoes and chicken broth, stir well and add salt, pepper and hot sauce. 

Bring to rolling boil then put on grill over a 300 degree charcoal fire, or in a 300 degree smoker .

On the grill or in the smoker, it should just barely be bubbling, like in a crock pot.

Throw some hickory chunks on the charcoal to give it a smoke flavor.

Do not put a cover on the pot, but do close the grill.

Stir occasionally

Cook for 2 to 2 ½ hours until gator is tender.

Serve over rice.

 
 
Hey guys! Sorry for the lack of report and delay, i've been super busy over here with some travelling and gettign ramped up with a new job.

So the gator feet did not make an appearance after all, suppoedly they thought we already had enough food and we'd do the feet another time. Also apparently the "feet" are the entire leg of the gator. 

 AL - I was told dont ask dont tell about the rest of the gator and where/how they got it LOL

The pig was great! 75lbs live weight...i'd say around 55-60lbs cleaned. Smoked it around 250 for 8 hours over oak and some cherry. Here are pictures!

This was a litter that was born shortly after the litter that mine came from. 


The Blackbeery Pig Farm just did a expansion so they were excited to show me the new layout


Piggy cleaned and scalded for me







 
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