ALLIGATOR SAUCE PIQUANTE
I created this version of the classic sauce-piquante recipe based upon
an almost completely unreadable recipe scrawled down by my friend Dan
Comeaux, who was a tad inebriated at the time; he cooked it at my place
one New Year's, and ha already had a pint of Jack Daniel's when I asked
him to write it down. Looking at it later was almost like looking at
hieroglyphics. I dimly remembered what he did, experimented upon and
refined it. Comeaux will undoubtedly complain that I got it wrong
("Chuck can cook all right ... but not as good as me!" he's fond of
saying) ... but I think it's mighty tasty.
After that, find a recipe created by Joe Cahn, formerly of the New
Orleans School of Cooking.
2 - 3 lbs. alligator meat, OR
(turtle meat or rabbit or froglegs or pork or squirrel or raccoon or any
good game meat -- or shrimp or chicken will work nicely as well)
3 onions
3 bell peppers
5 ribs celery
3 - 5 cloves garlic (or one head Creole hot garlic)
2 fresh mild green chiles (Anaheim or New Mexico)
1 - 2 jalapeno or serrano or habanero chiles (optional)
Oil for sauteing
3 tablespoons oil (for the roux)
3 tablespoons flour (for the roux)
1 can crushed tomatoes and 2 cans Ro-tel tomatoes (if unavailable, use
regular stewed tomatoes and add more hot chiles)
1 small can tomato paste
1/2 cup red wine
1 to 1 1/2 cups stock or broth
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 teaspoon white pepper
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves, OR
1-1/2 teaspoons dried rosemary leaves
1-1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, OR
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
Salt to taste
If you have alligator or turtle (or whatever) bones, boil them with a
quartered carrot, quartered onion, celery with tops and some peppercorns
to make a stock. Skim off fat if any and reserve 1 to 1-1/2 cups. Or,
you can use a prepared or canned beef or chicken broth, but whatever you
do, don't just use plain water.
Dice or cube the meat, then saute in a little oil until browned.
Chop and saute one of the onions and one of the bell peppers, and saute
until tender. Pure these in a blender and set aside.
Saute the remaining onion and bell pepper with the chiles, celery and
garlic.
Make a medium, peanut-butter colored roux with the oil and flour, adding
a little more oil or flour until you have the right consistency. Add the
roux to the sauted vegetables to stop the cooking process, and stir
well. Make sure the roux does not stick to the bottom of the pot.
Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, wine and Worcestershire to the sauteed
vegetables. Add the onion/bell pepper pure and stir. Season with the
Creole seasoning and salt to taste. Cook on medium heat for 10 minutes,
making sure it doesn't stick.
Add the meat, rosemary and thyme and cook for 30 minutes on low heat,
stirring frequently to avoid sticking. If you're using shrimp or
seafood, cook for 20 minutes, then add shrimp for the last 10 minutes
and cook.
Serve over rice with French bread and a nice zesty red wine like
Zinfandel or Merlot. Yum
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
Access the Recipes And More list archives at:
http://www.mail-archive.com/recipesandmore%40googlegroups.com/
Visit the group home page at:
http://groups.google.com/group/RecipesAndMore
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
