BBQ Brethren "XL" Throwdown

[southernsmoker]

And a big ol' stuffed sausage ball...
The ABT is a poblano vehicle for smoked japs, then maple sausage, sauted onion, garlic, mushrooms and spinach w/ Todd's Dirt, ricotta, more sausage and japs and top shell put in place then wrapped with 5 slices of wright's bacon and smoked indirect on the weber. The sausage ball is Michele's Idea and creation as to what to do with the leftover sausage and stuffing. Will post the cook thread later in Q Talk.

WOW...thats extreme :clap2:

 

[Redheart]

Wow you guys are amazing! Wish this thing was a few weeks down the road. I am scheduled to do kalua pig on 8 May. Even though it will not be eligible, I promise to post pron.

 

[deguerre]

It does look MUCH better than your other efforts. Were you even in town when she put this together? :wink::boink:

Um, I WAS advised to step away from the plate...

 

[deguerre]

Monster A B T thread

Couldn't edit the original post so here 'tis:
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=83383

 

[Jonny Rotisserie]

"Fish"

As the category for this week is XL, clearly this would be the week to go BIG and try something for the first time that had been lingering in my BBQ imagination for some time: fish. Not just any fish, but a fish that would push the physical limits of my rotisserie.

This was also to be my parting gesture to the West Coast because I leave tomorrow to head East for the summer. The weight I was after was 18 pounds, which is the maximum weight my spit can hold. I went right to the docks where once a week they let mere mortals buy the good stuff coming right off the boats in San Pedro, across from the port of Long Beach.

You have to get there early. I had read that the shops open at 4ish (AM) and you don’t want to get there after 5 because all the good stuff is gone by then. So I found myself bleary eyed, milling around this pre-dawn fresh fish market amongst a mostly Asian clientele. The place actually closes before 8am, but by then, I already had Charlie in hand, my new blue fin tuna that had a hot date with a spit and fire.

Charlie weighed in at 21.5 pounds loaded and came in at a perfect fighting weight of just under 18 pounds once they gutted him for me. I went for a tuna because the only other big fresh whole fish available today was yellowtail and by the time they get in the 18 pound range, they are way too long for my spit (and the fire required would likely trigger a visit from the fire department).

The next task was finding a place to cook him. It turned out that luck was with me because the first place I tried, Cabrillo Beach, was right around the corner from the fish market and turns out to be only one of two places in all of Los Angeles County that has fire pits and allows open fires. Even better, when I went to set up, there were still some excellent big pieces of wood already smoldering from the previous night’s beach party. I didn’t even need a match to get my cooking fire going. I believe the wood in there was red oak and to that I added some avocado and eucalyptus.

So then came the challenge of trying to figure out how to set up Charlie on the spit. It wasn’t easy. I ended up re-impaling him several times before I got him nicely balanced on the spit. For preparation, I jabbed some slits up and down the meaty parts and then stuffed them with basil pesto. I gave him a pesto full-body rub down as well. A squeeze of lemon and a dash of salt, pepper & onion powder then off to the fire he went.

Cooking went great.

Pretty much everyone walking down the beach came by to see what the heck was going on. Charlie would just wave nonchalantly to the crowd with his fin spinning through in the air. If you ever wanted to make a bunch of friends at the beach, just throw an 18-lb fish over a fire.

After an hour, I basted him in butter, diced garlic and lemon and then wrapped him in foil to try and get the inside further cooked without charring the outside. About a half hour later, Charlie was making some twisty dance moves that seemed to indicate I better get him off the spit before he fell off on his own.

It turns out that he had not cooked all the way through at that point, but it made for a thick seared ahi kind of feel with the fully cooked portion going in 2-4 inches and then gradually becoming a bright red center. The flesh was all succulent, tender and frankly superb, which was confirmed by the many passersby including someone from the park staff that helped me with the tasting and polished off a few pounds of Charlie in the process.

Trust me, there was PLENTY left after gorging ourselves. In fact if anyone reading this is between LA and New Orleans, I can drop by and give you a taste on my way. In any event I think Charlie is going to be with me for some time because much of him will be going in the freezer or otherwise I will overdose and may never be able to look a tuna in the face again.

Chris, I’ll let you pick the picture this time around.

--Jonny Rotisserie

 

[Gore]

Ooooo, fish on a stick! Looks yummy!

 

[Alan in Ga]

That looks so good ,I miss the beach

 

[bigabyte]

Holy Carp (I mean Tuna)!!!:shock:

18 pound fish on a stick? Fantastic!

 

[Grillman]

Holy Carp (I mean Tuna)!!!:shock:

18 pound fish on a stick? Fantastic!

You said that on Porpoise; but, that's OK, I'm hard of Herring.
That fish story is quite a Tail, and it's good you shared it and weren't
Shellfish. Because nobody likes a Crab. It must have been legal to cook
there...or somebody would have called the Cods. There could have been
quite a Roe. You were smart to be sure it was properly cooked; otherwise
you may have needed to go to the hospital and see a Sturgeon.

That Tuna was no Shrimp, and I bet it would cook up good on the Krill.
Whale, I have just one question...you really went to the fish market
just for the Halibut...didn't you?

 

[Jonny Rotisserie]

Now I see why people usually don't cook fish on here! :becky: I may need to see a sturgeon to stop all those puns from echoing around in my head. I dare not enter a pun war with you Grillman.

BTW I laugh every time I see your Good vs. Evil Squirrel Sorcerer Battle picture.

---Jonny Rotisserie

 

[Desert Dweller]

There is a Tuna sandwich calling my name...

 

[thedirtman]

I am very impressed and jealous that I could not be there for dinner. That looks great.
Todd

 

[landarc]

Impressive, it looks like your rotisserie was just about to flounder, but you did skate by, all I can say is Opah!

 

[cmcadams]

Impressive, it looks like your rotisserie was just about to flounder, but you did skate by, all I can say is Opah!

there should be a punishment for that.

 

[Gore]

Master has been extremely busy all weekend and I also, so to your relief, this will be an extremely boring entry. I got really lucky on Friday and managed to sneak a package of ribs and chicken thighs into the shopping cart, then there was a request for short ribs and somehow I added those too with hardly a raised eyebrow. Absolutely amazing! I seasoned these straight up with rub.

I have no idea what the secret ingredients in Foil Hat are, but would I ever like to find out. Rumor has it they put a squirrel in every jar. The Oval was very happy to be put to work.

Yes, we've got a bit of pollen here. I loaded up the short ribs on the top tier and planned on adding the chicken when I used the crutch.

Meanwhile, I roasted some peppers on the gasser.

It's always nice to have these on hand.

When I returned from my errand, the ribs were a little overdone -- not that I'm complaining. They were great.

Luckily Master left me a loaf of French bread fresh out of the oven.

I de-boned one of those racks,

sliced some red pepper and put together a boneless rib sammie.

It's not original, but I've always wanted to make one.

 

[Alan in Ga]

That's making me so hungry right now,and I'm battling a case of Krystal heartburn. Nice job Gore.

 

[rolf]

That just looks amazing gore!

 

[Jonny Rotisserie]

Gore, that looks amazing. Did someone say there was a drool emoticon?

 

[landarc]

Great job Gore, I so want to try one of those, I believe that will have to happen soon.

 

[Desert Dweller]

Another quality food post by Gore! Nice job man.