Do not be afraid of alligator meat if you haven't tried it before. It's similar in texture and appearance to pork and has a very mild flavor that's not at all gamey!
If you locals want to give it a try, there are a few more packages of it at Roma Imports in Latham, where I bought mine. They ordered 5 lbs., but I only needed 1 lb. for this recipe. It comes frozen and pre-packaged in 1-lb. bags.
Nutritionally, it's lean meat. My package contained four roughly 4-oz. cutlets and each one has only 177 calories, with no trans fat and just 74 mg of cholesterol. (The daily recommended intake for cholesterol is 200 mg for people at risk of heart disease; for healthier hearts, 300 mg per day is OK.) Pounding those cutlets into paillards helped keep them nice and tender.
Unfortunately, this particular supplier does add some salt and a preservative to their gator meat, and they don't provide sodium stats. It didn't taste overly salty but, if you're tracking sodium intake, you can't really know for sure how much is in there.
It took no time at all to prepare this recipe, and it came out amazingly good. The sauce is divine! Honestly, I'd make a batch of just sauce to eat over rice or pasta, it's that's good. The original recipe calls for brandy and shallots, but I used sherry and onion since we had those on hand. (Really, any fortified wine will taste just fine.)
Here's how I made it:
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
4-6 Tbsp flour
1 lb. alligator cutlets (about 4), pounded thin (I used a freezer bag and my rolling pin.)
1 small onion, minced
1 can (10 oz) low-sodium cream of mushroom soup
¾ cup fat-free half-and-half
3 Tbsp dijon mustard
2 tsp mustard seed (optional)
Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
Fresh parsley, minced, for garnish
Lightly coat the alligator paillards with flour on each side. In a large skillet, heat the butter and olive oil over medium-high heat till bubbly. Sauté the meat for about a minute on each side, just till they're golden brown. Set the meat aside on a plate and keep it warm. Next, sauté the onion in the same skillet for a couple minutes, also till golden, then deglaze the pan using the sherry. Make sure you scrape up the browned bits from the pan!
Reduce the heat slightly, and add the soup, half-and-half, mustard(s) and pepper till well blended. Return the meat and any juices to the pan. Simmer for a few minutes longer to ensure the meat is cooked (it won't need long, since it's so thin). Add the parsley, and serve!
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