Filet Mignon of alligator

Dani

Dani

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So in packaging all the gator meat for freezing, I figgered I'd show off one cheek from the big gator. I'd guess each cheek weighed between 10 and 15 lbs.

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I thought of keeping one whole and having my dad smoke it but it's a huge piece of meat and I don't think I'd have enough people over at one time to actually eat it all, so I decided to cut into large steaks.

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I figger that I can take a couple with me over to my dads house and he can cook large chunks as easily (or easier) than a big hunk of meat.

The loins were pretty hefty as well, and they got cut into large thick pieces too.

I cooked the tail end of the loins (the little skinny part) tonight and they ended up deeeeelicious. I look forward to trying some of it smoked.

Dani
 
Dani,

It certainly looks delicious. Do the different cuts, (cheek, loins,tail) have different flavors or is it more of a texture difference?
 
That's incredible! Gator bratwurst, gator schnitzel, gator kebobs, gator smokies, gator 'n beans, gator chili, gator chowder, canned gator, corned gator, landjaeger gator...

I was all excited cuz I got a Ruffed grouse to try some Indian Masala on. Oh! Gator curry!

Mike
 
Honestly I'm not really sure on that question. Maybe Steve remembers better than me. We ate the loins last year pretty quickly, and then made some most outstandingly delicious sammiches out of the cheeks. But the rest of the meat (tail, back, belly meat) we had pretty much turned into sausage (jalepeno cheddar brats and spicy sausage) or gator burger. With the exception of the loins and cheeks, gator meat is pretty much thoroughly riddled with sinew (which is partly what makes it tough ....also cuz it's so lean if you over cook it then it's rubbery). So, like a great marbled steak, the rest of the gator is marbled with sinew (which in this case isn't like a great marbled steak in quality), which can affect the chewiness a lot. But it doesn't seem to matter in sausage or gator burgers. I've read that there are differences in flavors. I'm sure the leg meat, which is red meat, is different flavored from the loins and cheeks.
 
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Nice! Looks like wild turkey breast, though much heavier!
Lately I've been making "spedies" with the turkey breast. Cut it in chunks, marinate for a couple of days, then grill the chunks on skewers. I wonder how gator spedies would taste?
 
John, last year we took some of the chunks we made from the loin and marinated them in mango juice and terriyaki sauce for an hour or so....then grilled them up with fresh mushrooms and pineapple....just skipped the skewering part...was VERY VERY delicious
 
Boy Dani, you talk about eating high off the hog ooooops, I mean gator, that is something. I like the receipt you did last year with the mango sauce etc.
wis boz
 
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