It doesn’t sound that odd, but “Surf & Turf” does cover a broad variety of food combinations. To me, the traditional surf and turf consisting of filet mignon and a previously frozen, warm-water lobster tail is the surest sign of an awful restaurant; just two overpriced bland food items. The different takes are always the best ones, which is how we ended up with offal, reptile, and fish for dinner when we were down in Naples.
It all started at Jimmy P’s butcher shop in Naples, FL.
Like most awesome food spots in Naples, Jimmy P's is in a rather anonymous strip mall. Made a suburban-raised Jersey kid feel right at home
Along with lots of nice looking cuts of high-quality meat, they also have a few cases of more interesting and unique items. As you look left to right at the freezer cases, they start you with the game meat sausages, advancing to the tiny birds and poultry liver mousses, before culminating with a case full of organ meats.
After 15 minutes of pacing, leaving grease streaks on the glass with my nose, and defrosting the freezer with constant opening and closing, I paid for my lamb kidneys and gator fillets.
The sub-$4 price tag and lack of required cooking time helped these kidneys beat out the veal tongues and sweetbreads they were competing with. I wish they packaged all offal in cheap(er) quarter-pound one man portions
After some research, it seemed that one of the most common methods for prepping lamb kidneys is to soak in heavily dilluted vinegar. I didn’t like the idea of this since I hate the rubbery, bad ceviche-like outside that citrus juice or vinegar gives to meat when marinating. However, I’m also an idiot and blindly followed the recommendations of some anonymous internet recipe poster.
I ended up regretting that decision when I saw the outside had changed color 20 minutes later. I pulled the kidneys out of the diluted vinegar soak and rinsed them thoroughly to stop the pickling effect before slicing each one in half.
Despite the whitened vinegar-cooked outside, these were still much cooler looking food than beef kidneys. My poor mother invites us down to visit and I thank her by preparing organ meats in her pristine kitchen while belching loudly and muttering curses at her dull knives
After the internets failed me, I fell back on my previous knowledge of kidneys and soaked them in milk followed by salted cold water. The goal was to draw out whatever blood and funkiness they held inside.
While those sat in the fridge and reduced the resale value of Mommy Ryan’s condo, Tim got started prepping the pound of gator fillets.
Looked suspect and tourist trap-y, like some sort of airport souvenir or a sweatshirt the Mooman would buy if he visited the Everglades
Alligator is a little gimmicky and is on the menu at a lot of crappy theme restaurants in Southwest Florida. However, it’s also pretty delicious if done right; like salty tender chicken scallopine that’s been tenderized by the spiky side of a mallet. It sounds specific, but it’s a pretty solid analogy according to the writer of said analogy.
Tim planned to set aside some of the larger pieces for grilling and fry up the remaining chunks. Worked for me, but I insisted he come down to the pool and help me start the grill since I am scared of grills and he is a real man and all. Friggin jerk. Here’s what headed to the grill along with two (varying degrees of) portly Ryans:
Olive oil, salt, and lots of pepper. The kidneys were mild smelling enough that they didn't seem to need a ton of extra flavor covering them. I had an arugala and lime aioli waiting just in case
The gator fillets. Figured these would be the under-the-radar best item on the table
A couple thick tuna steaks with a little toasted sesame oil to avoid sticking to the grill. Had to feed Kristi something. Note the Bell's Oberon in the background that I was extremely excited to find until I realized I was drinking their summer beer in February. Still pretty delicious though
With the grill safely started by Tim (while I hid behind the deck furniture with my fingers in my ears), we let it heat up for 5-10 minutes and threw everything on.
Just a wonderful sight, even if the lamb kidneys looked mildly disturbing on the left side. The next day some condo association busybody complained about the residue left on the grill while Tim and I whistled and looked at the flowers and cracks in the floor
The grills are quality ones, and the setup is great, but they just didn’t get hot enough despite being cranked to high the whole time. Against every instinct, I had to lower the cover for a bit.
"What you guys doing:}?!?!?", "OMG!!!", "I ❤ them! TTYL!!!!" What can I say, I am a 32 year old dad who texts more than a teenage girl and with even less coherence. I also wear slippers with my DB lax-daddy shorts and pink shirt
After a few minutes, I opened the lid, flipped everything and cooked with the uncovered for another 5-10 minutes.
Kidneys had some of the crispy char I was looking for, and the gator looked decent, but I already knew the tuna was going to be over. I think I took it off a split second later while saying hateful sh*t about myself under my breath
After everything had some good marks on both sides, we loaded onto platters and made the trip back up to the condo. The kidneys had a remarkably mild smell considering how strong organ meat can smell when cooked.
I would have preferred the kidneys be borderline burned on both sides. No idea why, burned kidneys sounds awful
The grilled gator was tender and full of flavor. Because it is served in so many fried preparations, usually using the gristle-heavy cheap cuts, gator gets a bad rep. I honestly think a piccata with gator fillets would be incredible after how good the grilled version was.
The kidneys were interesting. The flavor of beef kidneys reminded me of gamy lamb, so I assumed that lamb kidneys would be like mega-gamy lamb. I ended up being incorrect for a change, and they weren’t too bad; a little rubbery with some mild liver/organ meat flavor, complimented well with an acidic sauce. Unfortunately the arugala and lime aioli I made broke while I was at the grill which was a bit of a bummer. File lamb kidneys in the “I’m glad I tried it but I’ll pass on thirds” category.
Acknowledging my mistakes here with that tuna. That's what I'd expect on a salad at a TGIFridays, thank god It had a decent sauce for dipping (same as my dumpling sauce)
The best item, which came together entirely while I was at the grill so I can’t take credit (though I will if you offer it), was Tim’s fried gator nuggets. Salty, tender, crispy, well seasoned with Old Bay and served with a garlic mayo, friggin’ delicious from a friggin’ jerk
I could have eaten this whole plate, I love that slightly fishy chicken taste that gator has. Oh, and anything salty and fried
We will need to experiment with gator some more on our next visit, along with whatever else Jimmy P’s has to offer. Really good.
Will try to break up the WCICs with some cookies or mac & cheese or something next week. However, there are definitely some good meals in the queue after picking up 40 lbs misc. cow parts from Uncle Billy last weekend in Vermont. Not to mention the bag of lamb hearts and tongues from David at Snow Farm that was left for me to pick up in Lexington, MA. You end up with a lot of awesome random food when you write a random food blog.
The Pete Is On 