Gator Bites with Homemade Remoulade Sauce

Photo by Mrs. Scales

Oh my word...  Alligator is probably one of my favorite meats.  Seasoned, fried up and dipped in remoulade - DELISH.  ...and surprisingly simple.

Easy peasy.  

• Lightly season your bite size gator tail meat with Tony Chahere's Creole Seasoning (or Old Bay) 
•  toss meat in some Zatarain's Fish Fri.  
• Deep fry until golden brown.  

For a dipping sauce you can use ranch or a creole remoulade sauce.  I homemade the one in the picture but I honestly don't remember what all I put in it.   When I make it again I'll update this post.

Gator can't be bought in many parts of the country because its just not available and its a 'southern' thing being that alligators are specific to that region.  But lucky for you, alligator and other southern specialty meats can be bout at an only cajun grocer I've provided a link for you below.

Gator meat to be shipped can be bought here.

appetizer, seafood, snack, snacks, southern,

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Mrs. Scales Southern Chicken Fried Chicken

I know the ingredient list seems long..but this recipe is actually pretty quick and easy.  The beauty of that crazy long list is that you can omit what you don't have on hand.  No onion powder? no biggy..  No creole seasoning?  Just use any seasoning salt..  the bare bones original recipe is simply flour, salt and pepper...so really all this other stuff is just flavor boosting goodness i added to make it a yummy Mrs. Scales-style dish for Mr. Scales.  :)

For the Chicken:

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts ( or as many you want until your egg and flour mix runs out)
• 1 teaspoon of Creole or Cajun seasoning
• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 cup Progresso Italian Bread Crumbs
• 1/4 cup Panko bread crumbs
• 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional if you want extra spice)
• 1 teaspoon of freshly cracked black pepper
• 2 large eggs
• One-half inch of cooking oil 
• Parsley for topping

For the Gravy:
I went the easy route and used packaged sausage gravy (the dry stuff), followed directions and added a couple pinches of salt.  This also makes the process faster considering i get home late from work.

Directions:
Mix all dry ingredients (except parsley) in a bowl.  Mix it up good and transfer to a plate.  

Beat the eggs in a separate bowl. 

Give the chicken a couple pounds with a meat tenderizer if the breasts are thick.  (I didn't, simply because i don't own a meat tenderizer)  

Heat oil in a skillet on medium.  Or you can use a deep fryer (I did).  

Coat each piece of chicken in the flour mixture, then dunk in egg, then coat in flour mixture AGAIN.  Once all pieces are coated, let sit for about 8-10 minutes.  I used this time to get my side dishes ready...this night it was rice and succotash.  Plus i had to wait for my deep fryer to finish heating up.  

Cook each piece in your skillet till golden brown - about 3 min per side.  OR cook in the deep fryer for 10 minutes at 350.

Don't forget to make your gravy per directions on package.  I did this while my chickens were in the deep fryer. 

Plate your chicken, cover with gravy and sprinkle with parsley. 

Yummy.  This was my first go at chicken friend chicken but i was very pleased with the flavor I created.   This flour mix & egg method can be used if your making chicken tenders also!

Enjoy!

~Mrs. Scales

chicken, comfort food, dinner, easy, southern,

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Hickory Smoked Wings (like Slick Pig's)

 

Oh.My.Word.  Hickory smoked wings.  There is this wing joint in Murfreesboro, TN called Slick Pig.  They are famous for their hickory smoked wings.  But of course their recipe is top secret.   Welp.. I just had to figure out how to make wings like these.  One little problem.. I know NOTHING about smoking.  First I searched for a smoker on Amazon and found this easy enough for a beginner smoker (Stovetop Smoker ) for $43.95 - so it didnt break my account.  This came with Hickory Wood Chips and Alder Wood Chips.. that was great because I would be needing the Hickory for this recipe.  I then set out to re-create that slick pig taste.  I did two test runs.  Both were good.  The second batch however, seemed closest.  The group of people who I tested them on (who have all had slick pig's) said the flavor was very close...but maybe better.  I'll bet Slick Pig doesn't use these ingredients (so I'm not claiming they do) ..maybe some of them.. but this is what I used to create the oh so popular flavor.  

To get your wings the shape you get them at a restaurant cut them in these spots.  Discarding the pointy end - forgive my lack of knowledge of the correct terms for chicken anatomy...  *Note: unless you have a meat cleaver or a very sharp knife, its easier to do this after they are cooked. *orrr you can just go the easier route and buy a bag of precut "chicken wing sections" :)

  

Marinate your wings in the fridge for 24 hours.

 

Get your smoker ready by adding Hickory wood chips to the bottom of your Stovetop Smoker .  Put your drip pan over that and your wire rack over that.  *Note - If you're using a different smoker.. do your wood chips according to instruction for your smoker.

 

Load up your smoker.

Place smoker on the grill or on your stove top at medium heat. Smoke for about an hour or your desired color of wing.. as long as they are done :)

Ingredients

Chicken Wings

1/2 cup Soy Sauce

3/4 cup Teriyaki Marinade

1/4 cup Worcestershire Sauce

3 heaping tblspoons of Hoisin Sauce

Helpful items:

Smoker

Hickory wood chips

  

 

Directions

Combine the last four ingredients in a Gallon size freezer bag; Stir so Hoisin sauce is blended in.  Add the wings to the bag making sure they are coated well.  Put in the fridge to marinate for 24 hours.

Get your smoker* ready by putting about 2 1/2 tablespoons of Hickory woodchips in the bottom layer of the smoker.  Put the drip pan over those woodchips. Put the wire rack in the drip pan... I wrap the wire rack in aluminum foil for easier clean up. 

Load your wings onto the wire rack.  Put the lid on.  Place your smoker on your stove top or your BBQ grill at medium heat.  Smoke for 45 min to 1 hour.  This gives them a YUMMY smoke flavor.

To get a little crispyness I throw them directly on the grill for 1-2 minutes**.  Scrum-didly-umptios.

*Alternatively: if you dont want to use a smoker you may be able to cook these in the oven for 45 min to an hour putting it on broil for the last 10 min.  If you do it this way I would add liquid smoke flavor to the marinade because you will be missing the delicious smoke flavor from the smoker.. I have not tried an oven version yet.  But when I do I will update this recipe.

**If you don't have a grill.. you can toss the smoked wings into a frying pan with just a tad bit of oil for a couple minutes to get that bit of crispyness.



 

 

I found this book on amazon - its a smoking book for this particular smoker!  I havent ordered it .. but I just might.

 

appetizer, chicken, dinner, snack, southern,

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Southern Buttermilk Pie

 

So easy, so southern, so yummy....

Southern Buttermilk Pie

Prep: 25 min.
Chill: 4 hr.
Bake: 60

Ingredients
1 pie crust
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
3 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Stir in sugar and flour. Remove from heat; set aside. In mixing bowl beat eggs with electric mixer on medium speed just until fluffy (about 1 minute). Stir in buttermilk and vanilla. Gradually whisk buttermilk mixture into butter mixture until smooth. Pour into pie crust. I Sprinkle a little nutmeg on top for color.

Place pie on oven rack; carefully tent whole pie with foil. Bake 60 minutes or until center is set when gently shaken. Cool on wire rack for 1 hour. Cover; refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving. Makes 8 servings.

Note: depending on your oven you may need to cook longer

 

dessert, southern, sweet,

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