Halloween Recipe: Smoked Salmon Gator with Mudbugs and Swamp Sauce

Looking for a quick and easy Halloween recipe to take with you to your next themed potluck?  Have you been tasked with whipping up an appetizer for a party and you’re interested in blowing everyone’s socks off?  Need to come up with a centerpiece for your next Voodoo themed party? How about the fact that you just want to make sure that whoever asked you to bring in a platter of food never asks you again?  If you answered yes to any of these questions, do I have the recipe for you!

This Smoked salmon gator and mudbugs with swamp sauce is perfect!  It’s not only creepy looking, it’s also disgustingly delicious, utilizing tasty smoked salmon, a zesty dill sauce, classic cocktail sauce, sweet shrimp, crayfish and a loaf of Voodoo bread.  While this recipe looks difficult, it’s really not.  It’s all about prep and assembly.

To make your own gator plate you will need:

• Swamp Sauce (recipe below)
• Cocktail Sauce (recipe below)
• Fresh Voodoo bread cut into slices (recipe here)
• 1 package smoked salmon
• 1 lb cooked shrimp, peeled
• 1 lb cooked crayfish
• Lettuce leaves or kale leaves for decoration/garnish
• Large platter or tray for serving
• Plastic or resin Gator skull (Crazy Bonez and Target has some nice ones right now!)*
• Small plastic bone (optional)

To make your swamp sauce, you will need:

• 8 oz sour cream
• 1/4 cup fresh dill
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed garlic
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons capers
• Pinch of white sugar
• Green food coloring
• Brown Food coloring

To make cocktail sauce, you will need:

• 2 tsp Horseradish
• 2 cups Ketchup
• 1 tbsp Lemon juice
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Let’s start with the swamp sauce.

In a food processor or blender, combine all your ingredients except your food coloring.  Pulse until well blended and smooth.

Add in enough green and brown food coloring to end up with a swampy, muddy, oozy looking concoction.  Place into a small bowl and set aside for now.

To make your cocktail sauce, simply combine all your ingredients in your food processor (clean it out first if you used it to make swamp sauce) and again, blend to combine.

Place in another small bowl and set aside for now.

To assemble your marshy masterpiece, first line your tray or platter with your lettuce leaves/kale leaves.  Place your gator skull in the center.

Place your gator skull in the center.  Gently start laying Because smoked salmon has a slightly sticky texture to it, it should stick to your skull with no problems.  Continue to layer your skull with meat until all the white is covered.  If you plan on having the mouth of your gator skull open, I suggest propping it up with a small plastic bone.

Once you’re done covering your skull with smoked salmon, give it a quick brush down with a little brown food coloring to give it more depth and color.  You can also add red food coloring to the teeth to give it a juicy, bloody look.

Now just arrange your sliced Voodoo bread, crayfish and shrimp around your platter, making sure to also include your cocktail sauce and swamp sauce.

To serve, encourage your guests to slather some swamp sauce on a slice of bread and top it with a little smoked salmon.  As the salmon is peeled away and eaten, it will reveal the skull beneath.

Don’t feel like using a gator skull or shrimp or crayfish?  More interested in a traditional Antipasto platter?  Check out this flayed flesh skull.  And if you’re feeling the need to feed the beast, here’s one using a ram skull.

Bone appetite!

*if you want a truly amazing skull like the one I’m using, check out KombatKustom’s on Etsy.com.  Make sure before you use it that you wash it well and seal it with a food grade resin sealer. Actually, make sure you wash ANY skull you plan on using with food before letting anything you plan on eating touch it.  With the plastic skulls from Target and Crazy Bonez, they’re tough enough to survive a trip through the dishwasher on the top rack.  

 

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