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Wednesday, June 03, 2009

no bull


I
f I say I am going to make gator hand then by golly I am going to make gator hand. If I say I am going to braise that gator hand then I braise it.



No bull around here when it come to gator hands.



Now this isnt entirely true because what I am going to braise is going to be the gator arm or more 'pc' to call it the shank. We will be braising a gator shank - not the hand, or will we?



Yet still this is not entirely true because pork belly is in the house. Nice and fat yet lean, filled with contradiction -pork belly.



Why pork belly you may ask - because what if the gator shank is unsavory?



Its called 'back-up' and when mouths want to be fed its good to have something to feed them and besides not everyone is clammoring to have gator shank.



A little pork belly, a little gator, a little pico, a little coconut rice, oh and in case you are wondering - they both took quite a while to cook, almost longer than a confit...



A little blackberry balsamic and it smooths out the wrinkles.



...and so did the hand - did you ever read that monkey paw story - this is so like that!

66 comments:

Maris said...

...........speechless!!!

Jenn said...

Ummmm...(pause) I'll take the pork belly. Not sure if I'm ready for gator shank.

MrsLavendula said...

im with jenn, the gator shank looks a bit intimidating...

Anonymous said...

I'm scared more than hungry. Ummm... people eat gator hands? you can call me ignorant, I won't mind!

Ken said...

I'm not afraid of.....any food that's cooked.
How was it?
There must be something you can do with that hand!

Christo Gonzales said...

maris: you and me both....

jenn: I gotta tell you - it tasted swampy

mrslavendula: besides the 'paw' it was like any old shank

starr: maybe they dont and I am the ignorant one...hmmmmmm

micky-t: it was swampy tasting - not gamey but that extra water bird swamp kind of flavor - I am going to make a potent broth from the bones and see what happens

Stacey Snacks said...

I know you are not in Louisiana by the writing on the box......
You love to shock me!

Donna-FFW said...

coconut rice for me only, please. You are too much! Love your open mind.

grace said...

ho. ly. cow. that is creepy! you are certainly a much stronger person than i. :)

Ciao Chow Linda said...

You are way more adventuresome than I, my friend. I think I'd turn around and go home if presented with that gator hand.

White Toast with Butter said...

You should have saved this one for Halloween or April Fool's ... sorry but yuck.

snugs said...

I'm not feeling this one doggy..

tavolini said...

WOW--okay, the gator hand definitely wins presentation points :)

I've only had gator once, it was in some sort of gumbo served in bayou country--it tasted fine, if a bit stringy.

So, was it tasty?

vanillasugarblog said...

wait $3.99 a pound? god that seems really cheap.
did anyone eat this at home? I'm sure the boy had a good time with the claw. those nails!

Christo Gonzales said...

stacey: the old 'shock and awe' in all its glory

donna: it was irresistable

grace: I tried to show the less creepy shots...

linda: I wouldnt blame you...

andrewsmom: that would have been a less shocking good idea...

snugs: its way to visual - I know

tavolini: I have had gator nuggets before and it was the tail meat which was more chicken like - this was more wild boar like...

dawn: we all had a taste - we even had a guest - my friends 18 year old daughter is crashing here and she said it tasted good...we will be making a necklace from the claws

Unknown said...

Okay. I almost threw up. I'm sitting here eating a chicken biscuit from Chick-fil-A.

Anonymous said...

Very adventurous! That claw is a little scary but I'd try the gator shank :)

Christo Gonzales said...

bina: it looks more shocking that it actually was...

5 star: it would be a good thing to try - once -

Heather S-G said...

Um, I'm kinda freaked out right now.

Christo Gonzales said...

girli: hoepfully we will take on the spirit and power of the alligator..

Admin said...

I'm with Maris. Speechless. You alternate between pictures that send me running screaming for mama and pictures that make me hungry. Having said that, I've been told alligator tastes good. I have yet to try, but I want to.

Pam said...

Gulp. I can honestly say, I've never had alligator and I am not sure I ever will, but I will try a slice of the pork belly.

Angel said...

oh




my



god

KennyT said...

Chinese doctors believe that eating alligator and crocodile meat helps cure asthma.....

Mo Diva said...

what I want to know is:
-what did you do with the gator paw?
-How does gator taste with regards to is flavor and texture?
Becuase the paw is creepy to me... i wouldnt want to know it was gator until after i ate it.
you amaze me.

Mo Diva said...

no doubt you bought that claw from Chinatown... right> lol

The Diva on a Diet said...

OMG! Dude, you have the biggest cooking chops of anyone I know. Fearless, that's what you are!

Christo Gonzales said...

leela: hey you only live once and even if I do get reincarnated I wont remember a thing.

pam: good choice!

beth: I was SHORT of ideas until this came to mind!

kenny: see everyone there is a silver lining - thanks kenny!

mo: chinatown! how did you guess? it has a gamey wild boar/wild duck flavor....

diva: you know what they say 'fools rush in where angels fear to tread'

Heff said...

Wow. Most original by FAR!

buffalodick said...

I've had alligator once... it wasn't bad... That friggin' paw is the bomb!

Jill said...

This I will pass on! I had gator once in New Orleans...it tasted like rancid fish with the texture of chicken. I thought Jenn said "gator skank"...that would sum it up better.

Marjie said...

I've got to say, I'm not ready for an identifiable body part on my plate. Whole lobsters creep me out, too, although I have no problem with parts.

Ozge said...

Woah this disturbs me a little

Jason said...

That claw is a little bit nuts, but I've eaten gator a few times in FL & I love it! Nice work!

Christo Gonzales said...

heff: original is good....

buff: like I said - it is a one time thing - this little baby was 5 bucks and for the money it was worth the fun but I wont do it again...

jill: you nailed it solid - that about sums up the flavor ...just throw a side of duck mud in there and its complete

marjie: I tried to tone down the body part action but it wasnt easy to do

ozge: as it should....

jason: the gator nuggets I had and this shank are worlds apart...

Reeni said...

I suppose if you lived on the bayou this would be a steady part of your diet, from what I hear. That hand is kind of scary, and it looks like you would need a chainsaw to cut through the skin. Are you sure you didn't kill a bigfoot on one of your mushroom expeditions?

You are so brave.

The Duo Dishes said...

lol You've officially done too much!

C.G. the Foodie said...

Wowzas! I am impressed! I have only had fried gator and did not enjoy it so much. The class is freakin my out!

Sara said...

Wow, you are brave! I'm not sure about gator shank either, but I'll take your word for it.

Christo Gonzales said...

reeni: it might be an acquired taste and I bet many people enjoy it

duo: did I raise the bar?

foodie: it is freaky so that makes sense...

sara: you could probably go your whole life and not miss it...

Anette said...

That is SCARY food! IS it food? I seem to be out of speech...
So scary, so creepy!

The Blonde Duck said...

I have nightmares about alligators once a week. Terrifying!

Jackie @PhamFatale.com said...

oh my!!!!! I'm shaking... You could host a show with Andrew Zimmern

Creative Classroom Core said...

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Anonymous said...

oh my lordy. What did you do with the hand?!!!
but I'm actually quite familiar with crocodile meat. In Singapore, they have crocodile farms for this sort of thing. I guess alligator tastes the same?

carrie said...

awesome! i love weird/scary food!

Unknown said...

I have to admit I didn't expect this lol. Wow...what a welcome back to the blog world. My husband said "what in the world is that?" Having lived in Florida I knew....but um..hmm...the gator forgot to clean under his finger nails.

Chef Fresco said...

Seriously?! Wow! That is insane!

Ramya Vijaykumar said...

Hey I am speechless too!! did you have gator shanks??? oh my I havent gone that far yet!!!

Robin said...

uh, no thanks!

snugs said...

I need for you to post something pretty, I think I have been scarred for life from that paw/hand/freddie kruger claws haunting me all day.

Joy said...

Gag! I couldn't eat this. I'm squeamish.

I used to teach "The Monkey's Paw" and I'm pretty sure it would have that effect on me!

Fortunately, you cook other things I know I'd like.

LK- Healthy Delicious said...

creepy.

super creepy.

I do like gator, but that hand is frightening!!

T.W. Barritt at Culinary Types said...

Whoa. Can I have a cupcake with that?

gaga said...

Geezluiz that's freaky!!! YikES!

Tangled Noodle said...

This is definitely one instance when I really, really don't want to know where my food comes from!

teresa said...

i can't believe you were actually able to buy a gator hand! it's not the first thing I would choose to cook up, but i think it's really cool that you did!

Phyllis said...

Yikes, this totally upstages crickets. That gator hand looks totally freaky. I would still eat it though.

lisaiscooking said...

Wow. Where did you get the gator shank? How was the texture after a long braise?

pigpigscorner said...

I'll be stunned and speechless if someone serves me that ...umm....

Hornsfan said...

gator paw...gator hand...almost frightening looking piece of gator there! i'll take a piece and try it but i'm pretty sure the pork belly would be the fav for me...

gastroanthropologist said...

YIKES!

WhiteTrashBBQ said...

Oh my lord. Offal. It's just offal.

My Taste Heaven said...

oh my gosh...the gator shank looks really scary to me

Anonymous said...

Note to self....read blog post BEFORE scanning straight down to the picture....I almost passed out.
WOW!!! A big "good for you" for such an opened cooking mind!

bunkycooks said...

Oh, goodness! Not sure what to say now...I am disturbed!

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