BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board says Chef John Folse of Baton Rouge has the perfect game-day recipe for LSU tailgaters and couch tigers watching their team play Saturday at Florida.
First, you dice up your gator. …
Or, at any rate, you dice three pounds of alligator meat. It’s the starting point for six servings of alligator chili.
It also includes jalapenos, pinto beans, tomato sauce, chicken stock, chili powder and cumin — as well as what’s sometimes called Louisiana’s cooking trinity: diced onions, celery and bell peppers.
The seafood board says alligator meat is plentiful, lean and versatile.
What it isn’t is cheap, at least if you’re buying online. A spot check found prices for tail meat ranging from $8 to $45 a pound, plus shipping — though one spot offered alligator legs for $5.50 a pound, if you bought five pounds.
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Chef John Folse’s Alligator Chili
from “After the Hunt: Louisiana’s Authoritative Collection of Wild Game and Game Fish Cookery”
Prep Time: 1.5 Hours
Yields: 6 Servings
Ingredients:
3 pounds alligator meat, diced
½ cup vegetable oil
2 cups diced onions
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced bell peppers
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons diced jalapeno peppers
1 (16-ounce) can pinto beans
3 (8-ounce) cans tomato sauce
1 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
salt and cracked black pepper to taste
granulated garlic to taste
Method:
In a large Dutch oven, heat vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add alligator and saute 20 minutes to render juices. Add onions, celery, bell peppers, minced garlic and jalapeno peppers and saute 35 minutes or until wilted. Add pinto beans, tomato sauce and chicken stock, bring to a low boil then reduce to simmer. Stir in chili powder and cumin and cook approximately 1 hour or until alligator is tender, stirring occasionally. Season to taste using salt, pepper and granulated garlic. This dish is always served at hunting camp dinners over spaghetti. —-Contact The Daily Reveille news staff at [email protected]