Livin': Recipe - Fried Alligator
Me, Billy T, and JoBro set out across Alligator Alley a while back, looking for an illusive paradise. A little backwater bar that JoBro had been to about a year earlier while wanderin' through the everglades. He talked it up pretty good, sayin that it quite possibly contained the world's greatest jukebox full-up with Waylon, Willie, Hank, Seger and of course some Skynyrd. He said the beer was colder than cold and the locals were tolerant. Good enough to get us on the road...rowdy, thirsty, mapless and hapless.
If ya never been out State Road 84 'cross the bottom of FLA, ya just ain't lived. Sun shinin' down. Heat risin' up off the asphalt. Gators to the right of us. Gators to the left. And Mescalito blarin'. We stopped once we got outside of town for some passable 'cue and some cool beer, knowin' that the day would only get better. Past Billie Swamp Safari. Past the airboat rides. Past what looked like a couple of homegrown militia compounds. Past what I can only describe as the world's only Monster '84 Camaro. Smell that? No, the other thing. That's freedom, baby.
Well we got to Chokoloskee a little after noon, lookin' to live out all our outlaw fantasies at this roadside saloon we'd heard so much about. What'd we find? Bulldozer tracks and townhomes. Yup, dreams dashed, we cursed a bit, spit a bit and kicked a few tires. But determined to make nuthin into sumthin' we found a little waterside place to grab some beers and some grub, hopin' to get the lowdown on the next best low down from the locals. Over some fried gator, conch fritters and Cerveza Pacifica, JoBro asked, "So where do they raise hell around here?" "That'd be Leebo's Rock Bottom" came the reply. Angels sang and we hightailed it on down the road lookin' for rock bottom.
We got there before they opened but the convenience store next door was happy to sell us a few tallboys and unlock the screen door to Leebo's. They even turned on the jukebox for us. Waylon, Willie, Hank, Seger & Skynyrd! Again, the angels sang. Or it may have been Willie. So we sat back at a little wooden picnic table, loaded up the jukebox, shot the shit and watched the sunset as the locals filed in.
A few hours, a few beers, a whole lotta laughs and a whole lotta lies later, we hit the road lookin' for one more stop. (Epilogue: When you're lucky enough to turn nothin' into sumthin', savor it. Don't get greedy. Two hours later standin' in a "Irish Pub" in Naples surrounded by blue hairs and blue bloods butcherin' "Brown Eyed Girl" we realized we'd pushed a little too far.)
Anyway, here's the recipe for the fried gator:
Get yourself 2 pounds of well trimmed Alligator tenderloin - cut in bite sized pieces. Some Dixie Fry. Some cookin' oil. Some black pepper. And some TABASCO® brand Chipotle Pepper Sauce.
Dust the alligator in the dry Dixie Fry, shake off the excess and deep fry in the cookin' oil (use a deep frier if you got one). Cook until just golden brown. Serve hot with Chipotle Pepper Sauce, Tartar sauce or a red horseradish cocktail type sauce. Be sure and cut them in bite sized pieces so they wont be tough and will cook quickly. Easy to make. Very tasty. Wild Boar can be substituted very nicely in this recipe.
Recipe by: LeRoy Trnavsky
Posted in Livin'
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Eatin'/Readin'/Travelin': Let The Belly Be Your Guide
In Southern Belly: The Ultimate Food Lover's Companion to the South, John T. Edge travels the back roads from Texas to Virginia, from chicken shack to fish camp, from barbecue stand to pie shed, to bring you the most savory food and history the South has to offer. You'll find a South hidden in plain sight, where cooks who've been standing tall by the stove since Eisenhower was in office serve local specialties found nowhere else. The perfect traveling companion, Southern Belly reveals the stories and secrets behind this mouthwatering food and guides you to more than 200 places that have quietly become Southern institutions.
Check this out:
Southern Belly: The Ultimate Food Lover's Companion to the South (Paperback)
Posted in Eatin', Readin', Travelin'
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Music/Travelin': The Howlin’ Wolf Story - By Ron Brown
Nice little piece on Howlin' Wolf and Richard Ramsey's Howlin' Wolf Blues Society of West Point, Mississippi. Help keep the American Delta history alive for future generations.
Here's the contact info. And if ya can, make a donation:
The Howlin' Wolf Blues Society of West Point, MS. Inc.
P.O. Box 1334
West Point, MS. 39773
Fax: (662) 495-2007
tel: (662) 494-2921
email: rramsey@wpms.net
Also check out the city of West Point, Mississippi's website for more info: http://www.wpnet.org/About_HWblues.htm
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Music/Eatin'/Travelin': Road Trip: Blues & BBQ
Last year my brother and I lit out from Austin to follow the Black Keys to New Orleans and then on up Highway 61 to Memphis. Just a couple of knuckleheads in a pick-up truck trying to capture a picture that had been in both of our minds for as long as either could remember. A southern-borne, bourbon fueled meandering through the deep south. Belly's full of brisket after a quick stop outside of Austin, we were on the road. Some Willie on the radio and some Levi Garrett in the cheek. Bliss I tell ya. Big, open sky, rolling Texas hills, the clack of the highway slabs and the warm sun through the windshield. We hadn't seen each other in a while, with him livin' outside Austin and me settled down in Florida. And these kinda trips never seem to match what was in your head pushin' you to do it in the first place. After some small talk, we both sat silently leaving the weight of our respective existences behind like each curving mile. After about an hour or so, I look over and my brother's smilin' like when we were kids. A big toothy grin, with a little chew stuck in his teeth. 'Whiskey river take my mind....' 'it don't get any better-n-this' he says. The Old Milwaukee tagline that became a half-funny, half-serious battle cry when we were growin' up. Usually right before someone did something really stupid...To be continued.
Posted in Music, Eatin', Travelin'
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Music/Film: 10 Days Out - Blues From The Backroads
This is on heavy rotation over here. The included DVD that Kenny Wayne Shepherd put together with Jerry Harrison (of Talking Heads fame), documents the making of this album and is phenomenal.
Here's a review from artistdirect.com
10 Days Out may well be Kenny Wayne Shepherd's most important and intriguing album, even though the guitarist is hardly the featured artist on any of these tracks, working instead more as a sideman and facilitator for the impressive cast of venerable blues players who get a chance to shine here. Make no mistake about it, this recording belongs to such senior citizens as Henry Townsend, Etta Baker, Pinetop Perkins, and Henry Gray, and Shepherd's presence (and the presence of Stevie Ray Vaughan's Double Trouble rhythm section of bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Chris Layton) simply helps to focus the attention on these veteran blues players. Shepherd embarked on a ten-day journey into the American South in 2004 with a documentary film crew, a portable recording studio, and Double Trouble as a house band in an effort to catch the blues in its natural habitat of living rooms, kitchens, porches, back yards, and local watering holes, and the performances that resulted are priceless. Here is one-armed harp player Neal Pattman and blind guitarist Cootie Stark turning in a joyous, ramshackle version of "Prison Blues." Continue Reading...
Check this out:
10 Days Out - Blues from the Backroads - Kenny Wayne Shepherd (CD/DVD)
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