Alligator Soup

So I made this: Alligator Gumbo. Except that it wasn't really gumbo. It was a chowder. The kids insisted on calling it gumbo and they gobbled it up. Isaac had two bowls worth of alligator (he picked the meat out and ONLY ate that until he ran out and then he spooned up broth only bites).

It was simple actually. I carmelized one diced onion in butter, then added bite sized chopped up alligator fillets and sprinked seasoning salt on generously. I simmered that until the meat was cooked and the natural liquid was mostly gone. Then I added a handful of flour and made a quick roux. Next in was 4 cups of chicken broth, slowly poured in while stirring to keep the mixture thickening. Brought back to a bubbling boil, added sweet corn and dried and crushed sweet peppers. I could have added celery, potatoes, and carrots too but I didn't have time for those to cook. Add 1/2 cup of cream when taken off heat.

Recipe:
1 lb alligator fillets cut into bite sized chunks
1 onion, diced
1 cup of frozen sweet corn
4 cups of chicken broth
seasoning salt
4-5 dried sweet peppers
4 T of butter
handful of flour
1/2 cup of cream or sour cream

Serves 4-5 generous bowls.

This would be really good with fried cornbread bites or hushpuppies too.

I want to add this note too, I made this as a challenge to my theory that I could make any soup with a meat of choice, broth, and vegetables on hand. It worked. It worked really well. We will not ever get sick of soup if I can change them up with the kind of variety a simple template like this offers.

Meat + broth + vegetables= soup.  20 minutes from start to finish.