Fried gator

That's right, fried alligator. I'm cool like that.

I had a couple of package of gator meat in the freezer, from our trip to New Orleans. (In Louisiana, you can buy gator in the supermarket. How could I pass that up?) I decided to experiment.

Gator meat, for those of you not in Louisiana, is like a cross between chicken and fish. Imagine meat the color and consistency of raw chicken, but flaky like raw fish. (When cooked, it tastes like a really, really meaty white fish.) It comes in boneless fillets, from the tail, which then flake apart.

To make the fried gator, I soaked the thawed meat in buttermilk with a little hot sauce added. Okay, it wasn't really buttermilk, because I didn't have any--it was regular milk with a little vinegar added. For these purposes, you can go either way.

Then I breaded the meat in seasoned flour (all-purpose flour, cayenne, salt, pepper) and fried them until golden brown.

I used my home deep fryer, with vegetable oil, set at 350, but you could use a skillet too. Just make sure the oil (or lard, or whatever) is at 350.

I made a batch of hush puppies, too.

Then I served everything with Sriracha aioli (Sriracha + mayo).

I can feel my arteries clogging as I speak, but I feel so Cajun. So that's okay.