"Return of the McRib" BBQ Brethren Throwdown

[BBQchef33]

ok. Its official. I took tomorrow off just to cook. Got 6 racks of ribs and will be throwing a few McRibs into the mix. (and tri-tips for lunch. :thumb: ) dont close it tonight!!

My first throwdown! I'm skeered.



To bad my photo skills are about as good as my typing. Anyone know if RTD is for hire?

 

[bigabyte]

Maybe Sled can take some pics?

No wait....scratch that.

 

[Gore]

I decided to investigate this NASA-McDonalds conspiracy in a little more detail. Recent photos from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter show, for instance, the Apollo 14 landing site (a). On the bottom (b), we performed some phase-ratio imaging to distinguish anomalous surface features.

You can clearly see the location of the descent module. The darkened region is the result of fine dust settling on the surface, due to the engine blast when the astronauts left the surface. Also apparent is a well worn path to a region labeled ALSEP. Just what was this region and why did the astronauts visit it so often? I pulled this NASA stock photo:

I immediately noticed some very suspicious pixeling at the ALSEP location. Someone had tampered with the NASA photo archives. I spent several hours analyzing the photo and was finally able to reconstruct the original. I discovered this:

:shocked:

 

[bigabyte]

Wow! Excellent work Gore!:thumb:

I recently learned that EP means EggPlant, but what could the ALS part mean?

Are you sure you didn't notice anything else that looked "weird" in those photos. I thought I saw something weird, but I'm no expert.

 

[KnucklHed BBQ]

Gore, outstanding work!!

In my research I discovered what the ALSEP acronym meant... Equally mind blowing!

At-Last-i-See-Egg-Plant... I know right???!!

 

[Gore]

I don't know, but I'll bet that "S" stands for "Squirrel."

 

[Gore]

Gore, outstanding work!!

In my research I discovered what the ALSEP acronym meant... Equally mind blowing!

At-Last-i-See-Egg-Plant... I know right???!!

Does this mean McDonalds is serving McEggplants on the moon?
Chris, is there another special throwdown in the works?

 

[KnucklHed BBQ]

Don't you get it man??? Eggplants come from the moon! McD's has made their billions by exploiting this! :tsk:

 

[Smokey Al Gold]

ALSEP?
AL Sees Egg Plants?

 

[Wrench_H]

These throwdowns are nutz, man.

Every time I open a TD thread I'm blown away by two things: 1) the entries by all the competitors and how kickass :crazy: they are, and 2) how farkin' far behind I am with my skills as a cook (or actually the lack thereof.... :doh.

Man, I'm right there with you on that. There are some impressive folks on here. So far I've entered two, and have totaled 1 vote(I think somebody felt sorry for me). You guys certainly give us newer folks something to strive for though.

 

[Gore]

ALSEP?
AL Sees Egg Plants?

If it's AL Serves Egg Plant, I'd like mine with bacon please!

 

[Smokey Al Gold]

If it's AL Serves Egg Plant, I'd like mine with bacon please!

I haven't even had the bollocks to even try egg plant let alone serve it :icon_blush: Everyone's posts either scare me with it or try to make me believe it is somehow delicious. I'm scared I need my foil hat.

 

[deguerre]

Dang, I want in! Who do we compete against? I think we should go head-to-head with Team Husbands. :boxing:

Gore, as a Zero winning Eggplant Entrant, you are an Automatic Lifetime Member of Team Eggplant.

 

[KnucklHed BBQ]

I haven't even had the bollocks to even try egg plant let alone serve it :icon_blush: Everyone's posts either scare me with it or try to make me believe it is somehow delicious. I'm scared I need my foil hat.

Im with you Al! ...or was until this entry, I kinda feel like a poser cuz I really can't remember ever cooking eggplant before this... and there are no current plans to make more either.
I'm just glad I got my first & final EP entry done with... Now let's bring home the win baby!!! :heh:

 

[bigabyte]

Well, I'll say this for the eggplant first timers...you don't have to eat the center section where all those seeds are. Thats pretty bitter. It's the meat between the skin and the softer seedy middle that is the best. Just in case someone wants to try again. i can only guess that maybe some of these McEgpplants had a bit of a bitter taste when biting into the seedy centers. I'm sure with enough bacon and frying though, it might be able to be covered up.

 

[Gore]

Most people salt the sliced eggplant the night before and then rinse. This helps remove the bitterness. Personally, I like it bitter because then I don't have to add as much hops. :thumb: The long, thin Japanese eggplants I find are not bitter and do not need salting. We just slice, coat in EVO and grill. While we make a lot of fun of it, it is really good ... or it can be ... to some people ... apparently. The best fatty I ever had included eggplant as a principle ingredient. There is also a huge amount of eggplant disguised in Italian cooking.

 

[bigabyte]

I've never tried an overnight salting before. Then again, most every eggplant that comes in my house winds up roasted and into some Baba Ghanoush because I like saying Baba Ghanoush so much. Would you like some Baba Ghanoush?

 

[landarc]

You salt overnight? I just do it for a couple hours normally. Of course, I try to get unripe eggplants, once the seed ripen, they get bitter. Once it colors up, it is time to pick or buy them. I do like the Japanese and Thai eggplants that do not seem to be bitter under most circumstances.

The greatest hiding job of eggplant is eggplant parmigiana, you can't tell it is eggplant. Then again, you can't tell it is veal in veal parmigiana, it is just cheese melted on spicy tomato sauce.

 

[Gore]

Yes, sometimes even salt for a couple nights because we forget about them. :icon_blush:

 

[deguerre]

I don't salt as I don't have a problem with the bitterness, but I do look for younger smaller ones.