Walter & Della are young newlyweds who are very excited that construction will begin on their house this coming Monday. I was able to video them as they received the news. You can find their interview and video on the Habitat website.

Walter is a cook for the Silver Slipper casino and I asked him if he would include a local recipe as part of his thank you letter to the volunteers. The next day, Della gave me his recipe for Alligator Etouffe, from his four generations of Louisiana Recipes Houma Nation Book:

Alligator Etouffe

1/3 cup parsley

1 clove chopped garlic

1 ½ blocks of butter

1 can tomatoes

3 stalks chopped celery

1 large chopped onion

1 ½ cup green onion

3 tbsp. roux

salt & pepper to taste

Cut alligator meat into small pieces. Boil in salt water until tender; set aside. Cook onions, celery and garlic in butter until light brown. Add tomatoes and roux and cook for 30 minutes, stirring often. Add meat and cook on low for another 45 minutes. Serve over rice.

I told Della that I wasn’t sure I could get alligator meat in Columbus, Ohio. A few hours later, Walter called me and asked, “You’ve got turtles in Ohio, don’t you? Just make it as a Turtle Etouffe!”