Alligator Chili Recipes

ALLIGATOR CHILI

Steps:

• Set aside 1 cup of red wine. Cut meat into small pieces. Remove all tallow. Start drinking the rest of the red wine(cold beer may be substituted). In Dutch oven boil diced meat in water seasoned with salt and pepper for 20 minutes. Drain and set aside. In same pot add oil, onion, bell pepper and garlic. Saute until onions are tender. Add pinto beans, tomatoes, tomato paste salt, pepper, cumin, and jalapeno. Cook on medium low heat for 40 minutes. Add alligator meat. Cook on low heat 3 hours. Add wine last 30 minutes. Serve with Hot French bread and cold beer.

ALLIGATOR CHILI

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in the green bell pepper and onion; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high heat and stir in the ground alligator. Cook and stir until the meat is crumbly, and evenly browned. Drain and discard any excess grease. Stir in the crushed tomatoes, tomato-vegetable juice cocktail, black beans, kidney beans, and chipotle chile. Season with chili powder, cumin, cinnamon, smoked paprika, celery salt, ground ginger, salt, and pepper. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer for 2 to 3 hours, stirring in water if the chili becomes too thick. Serve with hot sauce.

ALLIGATOR CHILI

Steps:

• In a heavy dutch oven, heat oil over medium high heat. Add alligator and sauté twenty minutes to render juices. Add onions, celery, bell pepper, garlic and jalapenos. Sauté until vegetables are wilted, approximately three to five minutes. Add pinto beans, tomato sauce and chicken stock, bring to a low boil and reduce to simmer. Add chili powder and cumin, stir well into mixture and allow to cook one hour, stirring occasionally. Once alligator is tender, season to taste using salt and black pepper. This dish is always served at hunting camp dinners over spaghetti.

GULF COAST ALLIGATOR CHILI

Steps:

• Soak alligator in buttermilk in a container, refrigerated, overnight.
• Transfer alligator to a colander and rinse all the buttermilk off the meat. Let it completely drain or pat dry with a paper towel.
• Saute the alligator and ground pork together with the vegetable oil in a large stockpot on medium heat until the meats start to brown and release liquid, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove the cooked meat to a bowl to separate it from the liquid fat. Keeping the fat on medium heat, add the onions, celery, bell pepper and garlic, followed by the chipotles, jalapenos and serranos. Sweat this mixture down until onions turn clear.
• Add diced tomatoes. At this point, you will have a bit of liquid from all the fats and vegetables. Stir in 1/2 cup flour (or more, if desired) to thicken up the liquid and absorb the fats. Stir in the chicken stock, followed by the tomato sauce. Add the drained ranch beans, although this step is optional, depending on whether you want beans in
• your chili (hint: we always do). Cook, stirring regularly, until the pot hits a low boil. Add the alligator and pork mixture, along with half the beer. Stir in the cayenne, chili powder, cumin, turmeric, paprika, black pepper and salt. Reduce the heat to very low, then cover pot and simmer, stirring every 10 minutes or so to keep the chili from sticking to the bottom, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Though you could actually serve this dish now, as it will taste great, we truly feel that refrigerating and reheating it again adds to "the leftover effect" which allows the flavors to really marinate and come out to a noticeable degree. Remove pot from heat and set to the side until chili hits room temperature. Refrigerate overnight. When ready to serve, just reheat slowly (up to a low boil), stirring in the remaining beer to loosen up the dish. Garnish with green onions, Cheddar, sour cream and hot sauce. We always garnish the chili with our signature Dixie Fried Blue Crab and Corn Hush Puppies.