Blythe's Cracker Kitchen (or, The Editor Speaks)

top row & door: gator; second row: deer, third row: fish, bottom bin: gator & shrimp. All out of hog! :(

When you have a freezer that looks like ours (see photo), people often ask, “So, how do you cook a (insert animal name here)?” That’s where I step in. Hi, loyal readers, Blythe here. I have been given the task of providing you with game recipes, seeing as I have cooked a S*#!-ton of wild meat over the past few years. So, should you find yourself with a couple extra gators, deer, or crabs that need cooking, here are some tried and true recipes we enjoy.  The ground gator recipes are still in the experimental stage, so you may want to check with one of us before mixing up your own batch. This is not a comprehensive list of ALL my game/seafood recipes, so should you find yourself with a particular type of fish or cut of meat that you don't know how to prepare, email me-- I may just have a recipe that will suit your needs. Worst case scenario (ie., raccoon), you can always fry it! Happy eating...

Bacon-Wrapped Duck

8 wild duck breasts

8 pieces bacon

8 slices jalapeno *optional

Wrap one slice of bacon around each duck breast (and jalapeno if desired). Run a toothpick completely through, then grill on medium heat/flame until the bacon’s cooked (roughly 6-10 minutes). This will leave the duck medium, which is what you want; overdone wild duck is super dry!  

Bavarian Venison

1 2 ½ - 3 pound deer roast

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 C sliced carrots

1 C sliced celery

Optional: 3 C quartered new potatoes

3/4 C dill pickles

½ C dry red wine OR beef broth

1/3 C spicy mustard

½ tsp ground cloves

1 tsp black pepper

2 Bay leaves

2 Tbsp flour

2 Tbsp dry red wine or beef broth

Crumbled cooked bacon

Optional: hot cooked spaetzle or noodles

In a large skillet, heat olive oil, then brown roast on all sides. Place all vegetables (and pickles) in crockpot. If you do not plan to serve the roast over spaetzle (or if you just love carbs!), then include potatoes. Place meat on top of the vegetables. In a bowl, combine red wine/beef broth, mustard, mustard, pepper and bay leaves. Pour over meat. Cover and cook on low 8-10 hours or high 4-5 hours.  Remove the meat and vegetables from the cooker and place on a platter; keep warm. To make a gravy, transfer 1-2 C cooking liquid to a saucepan. Heat on medium. Discard bay leaves. Stir together 2 Tbsp flour and 2 Tbsp cold red wine/ beef broth and stir mixture into sauce pan. Cook and stir until thick and bubbly. Cook and stir 1 additional minute. Serve meat and veggies over noodles and top with bacon and gravy.

White Gator Chili

3 15-ounce cans of white beans, rinsed and drained (any combo you like: I usually use 1 Great Northern, 1 pinto, and 1 canellini)

2-3 C 1-2”gator cubes
1 C chopped onion

1 ½ C chopped bell pepper

2 fresh jalapeno, seeded and chopped

2 cloves minced garlic

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp salt

½ tsp dried oregano or Italian seasoning

3 ½ C chicken broth

Combine all ingredients in a crockpot. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 4-5 hours. Top with tortilla chips, cheese and sour cream. *If you have a white chicken chili recipe you LOVE, use it and just substitute the gator for the chicken. This is a pretty basic recipe we’ve made variations on for the last few years—but it’s a soupier version than some people prefer. This is a great way to use gator because it really tenderizes it! If you prefer red chilis, I suggest using venison instead. Gator is so mild that it just gets wasted in red chili.

"Leg in a pot"-- the leg is hiding under the veggies. This rivals any roast!

Leg in a Pot

1 Alligator leg or Deer leg or Hog leg (bones in)

1 C Creole butter (turkey injector marinade)—any type of marinade will work

1 ½ lb new potatoes, halved

1 red bell pepper

2-3 carrots, sliced

1 onion, quartered

Salt, pepper, and Everglades heat (or any Cajun blend) to taste

Throw everything in a crock pot, and cook on low for 6-8 hours—whenever potatoes are done. The meat will fall off the bone, so make sure you pick the bone out!

Fried Gator Nuggets

1 lb tenderized gator nuggets (2” cubes)

½ C McCormick’s Cracker Meal

Salt, pepper, Old Bay and Everglades Heat to taste

Preheat vegetable oil in fryer to 350. If your gator meat isn’t tenderized, take the time to beat it—it makes a difference! Rinse gator off—shake off, but do not dry, as this allows the cracker meal to stick. Place all dry ingredients in a bowl and combine with nuggets.  Shake to coat. Place nuggets in fryer and cook approx. 5 minutes; as soon as they start to turn golden brown, pull them. Best served with ranch, hot sauce, or BBQ sauce on the side.

Ground Greek Gator

1 container feta cheese

¾ bag spinach

4 lb gator chunks

4 Tbsp Greek seasoning

Grind all together (We haven’t actually cooked this yet, but I plan to use it as burger meat. I hope it’s good, because I have 2 lbs of it!)

gator five ways: pre-mixed breaded sausage, burger mix, Greek gator, taco mix, and nuggets

Ground Gator Burger Mix

3-4 new potatoes, skinned and quartered

2 C Pepperidge Farms stuffing

2-3 Tbsp salt

4 lb gator chunks





Cook potatoes 10-15 minutes, ‘til tender but still firm. Combine all ingredients and run through grinder. (This tastes similar to a crab cake, but a little milder; we made a spread out of mayo and Crystal hot sauce to top it with; cocktail sauce might also be good.)

 

my souffle

Caribbean Crab Souffle

½ C sweetened, flaked coconut

4 Tbsp unsalted butter

1/3 C celery tops

1 clove minced garlic

½ tsp curry powder

½ tsp dried thyme

½ tsp red pepper flakes

½ tsp salt

Black pepper to taste

3 Tbsp all-purpose flour

1 ¼ C milk

4 egg yolks

½ lb crabmeat

6 egg whites, stiffly beaten

¼ C fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 400. Butter an 8 cup soufflé dish. Toast coconut in a skillet over low. In a medium skillet, melt butter over low. Add celery tops, garlic, curry powder, thyme, pepper flakes, salt and pepper—cook for 3 minutes. Stir in flour until smooth (approx. 1 minute). Pour in milk and cook over medium, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil and thickens. Set aside and allow to cool slightly. Whisk the egg yolks one at a time into the sauce. Stir in coconut and crab meat.In a medium bowl, beat egg whites and lemon juice with a mixer ‘til stiff but not dry. Stir ¼ of the whites into crab mixture. Quickly and gently fold in the remaining whites.  Do not deflate the volume. Transfer mixture to the soufflé dish and place it on the bottom rack. Bake 30 minutes or until golden, puffed, and still moist inside.

Now, I’ve been told soufflés can be a challenge, so make sure you follow this recipe (which I found on allrecipes.com, my favorite cooking website) exactly; otherwise, your soufflé may “fall”-- mine, of course, did not. Iron Chef! This was a bit intensive, but it was worth it-- Nate and I, both pretty big fans of coconut, crab and curry, were gasping as we ate this… sooo good!

 Baked Cobia Ribs

1-2 cobia rib sections, skin off

1 C Italian bread crumbs

½ C mayonnaise or sour cream

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease 8x8 glass pan with olive oil or melted butter. Brush ribs with mayonnaise or sour cream, then coat in bread crumbs. Place outside of ribs (what was the skin side) facing down.  Baking time will vary based on how large the sections are—plus, I’m writing this from memory and just can’t remember! 15-25 minutes on 350 should do it; when you can pull a rib bone out easily, or the meat starts flaking when you pull against it with a fork, you know it’s done.

ceviche

Octopus Ceviche

1-2 C octopus, cut into cubes and rings

1 C firm white fish (red fish, black drum, tilapia, cobia), cut into 1-2” cubes

Optional: 1 C shrimp

1 container fresh salsa (or pico de gallo)

1 Hass avocado, diced

½ cucumber, diced

½ cup green olives, chopped

10 cherry/grape tomatoes, quartered

Juice of 2 lemons, 4 limes

Bring a pot of water to a boil; place raw octopus in a fryer basket or colander with handles and blanch the octopus in the water for 10-15 seconds. Give the octopus a few minutes to cool, then combine all ingredients in a non-reactive covered container. Try to choose a container where the citrus juice covers about half of the seafood/veggie mixture. Place the ceviche in the fridge, and shake every few hours. It should take roughly 4-6 hours to “cook.” Once the fish is “cooked,” make sure you drain off the citrus juice after this so it doesn’t get too tart! You may prefer to add the avocado at the end, as it may get a little brown. For those of you who’ve made ceviche, you’ll notice that you DON’T COOK THE FISH. The citric acid from the lemons and limes does this for you. You won’t get sick J