Ok y’all! 🔥🐊 Here’s the rundown on my savory smoked alligator cheesecake. It took a ton of planning. I got a late start and worked into the night styling this photo and trying to get the perfect shot. This was an entry for a Halloween themed cooking contest. I can't say enough great things about the team over at Chris's Specialty Foods. If you're looking for a source for great specialty meat products, I highly recommend shopping with them.

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- 2 cups smoked alligator

- 2 slices bacon

- 2 cups smoked Gouda

- 3 blocks cream cheese

- 1 bunch green onion tops

- 1 bunch green onion bottoms

- 1 yellow onion diced

- 1 jalapeño

- 3 cloves garlic

- 3 large eggs

- 1 cup heavy cream

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I started by sitting the cream cheese out to soften and prepping out all the ingredients. I diced the onion and jalapeño. Sliced 1 bunch of green onions, tops and bottoms. Minced the garlic and sliced the bacon. Shredded the smoked Gouda and diced up the leftover smoked alligator.

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In a heavy bottomed skillet I fried the bacon and rendered the fat. Set the bacon bits to drain on a paper towel. To the bacon fat, add the green onion bottoms, yellow onion and jalapeño. Sauté until softened and then add the minced garlic, being careful not to burn it. Pull it from the fire and let it cool.

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In a large mixing bowl, add three 8oz blocks of cream cheese, sliced green onion tops, bacon bits, sautéed onion/jalapeño mixture, smoked Gouda and smoked alligator. Mix well. In a separate bowl beat 3 eggs then stir in one cup of heavy whipping cream. Add the egg and cream mixture to the bowl and mix well.

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Pour mixture into a lined or greased springform pan and smoke for about 1 hour at 375 degrees until solid and golden brown. Let it cool in the refrigerator overnight. I used the @campchef woodwind #pelletgrill 🔥🔥🔥 You could smoke it on whichever grill or smoker you have. You could also simply bake it in the oven.

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We served ours with pork rinds. I saved the head and the feet from my previous cook to use in my photos. You could do this with shrimp or crab which also tastes amazing.