Outdoor Cooking: Tritip 05 by Recipe Cottage

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	Tritip 05

		At our house, tri-tip is our favorite summer party fare. A couple of suggestions: Buy the biggest Choice Grade (or even Prime Grade) tri-tip that you can find. At least 3 pounds, and more if you can find it. And forget Select Grade -- it'll be too tough. Leave the fat on. Cover the tri-tip with a THICK layer (a "rub") of garlic/salt/pepper. You can use "garlic salt" but purists prefer to use garlic powder and then salt, separately. If you have the time, leave it covered and refrigerate overnight. (If you don't have enough time, no problem: give it a thick covering and throw it on the grill.) One hour before starting to grill, take the tri-tip out of the refrigerator and let it sit, so that the temperature rises about to room temperature. When ready to grill, make sure that the charcoal (lump is best) is VERY VERY hot and that the flames have died down. The charcoal should be covered with a light gray ash. To get a very hot grill, you'll need to use lots of charcoal -- for one good sized tri-tip, use about 5 pounds of lump. Here in environmentally aware California, to start our charcoal fire, we use a "chimney" rather than charcoal lighter fluid, and the chimney that I use holds about 5 pounds of lump. I use a Webber kettle and put the lump in the charcoal holders so that the charcoal is about 4" deep. After the fire is perfect, put on the grill and let it get very hot. Just before putting on the meat, brush the grill with some olive oil. I start with the fat side up, but in truth it makes no difference. According to Larry Viegas (see the web site), "If you put the fat side of the tri tip on the fire first, the moisture will come up through the meat and make it tender." The problem I have with this is that, as the fat warms, it will drip down into the fire and will not evaporate until it's in the fire. But it doesn't make any real difference, because you have to turn the tri-tip after 1 or 2 minutes per side so that you sear it on all sides. Note that, in order to sear the thin edges, you have to figure out a way to balance the tri-tip on one end. If you're cooking several at once, it's easy to lean them against one another, but if you're cooking only one, you'll have to use a long wooden spatula or some other jerry-rigged device to balance the tri-tip on its thin edges. The BIG SECRET: when you first put the tri-tip on the grill, the fire might start flaming. This is GOOD to a point: the fire will totally blacken the meat (which is what you want). Let the flames blacken one side of the tri-tip for 30 or 45 seconds, and then rotate the tri-tip to do a different side. (There are a total of six sides.) But don't overdo the flames: the idea is to sear the juices in and to create a wonderfully delicious crust, but not to dry out the meat. After the flames have seared the meat so that it's black all around, then move the meat to the side or back of the grill, where it is still VERY HOT but not directly above the fire so that it will NOT FLAME. The total cooking time varies, and there is no absolute. Tri-tip is best when seared (blackened) on the outside, which is crunchy with the garlic and salt, and when it's red rare in the center. Cooking time depends on how big the tri-tip is, how rare you like it, the heat of the fire and the distance from the coals to the meat. For a 3 pound tri-tip, I'd plan for a total of about 30 minutes, with constant attention, but keep in mind that I like it very rare. Be careful with timing, though: the web site says that a tri-tip can take up to 90 minutes!!! It seems to me that, to take so long, the fire would have to be pretty cool (and/or the grill would have to be high above the coals), but this would dry out the meat. No recommended. About halfway through, put the bell peppers on. I learned that tri-tip is best accompanied by colorful bell peppers (the red, orange, and yellow are the sweetest, but some prefer the traditional green bell pepper, which has a stronger taste). Before hand, slice the bell peppers in half (plan for one-half of a bell pepper per person) and de-seed them. Cook them until you can see grill marks but not until they're soft or black. Then turn them over to cook on the inside. Finally, turn them back, so that the outside is down, and place thin strips of Monterey Jack cheese inside the bell peppers. Continue to cook until the cheese begins to melt a little bit. Don't overdo the cooking -- they are best when still fresh and crispy. When you think that the meat is done, remove it from the fire and cut it in half (to check that it's done). Remember that, even after you take the meat off the grill, it is continuing to cook. So, when you cut into the meat to check that it's done, it should be even rarer than you want. If it's done, leave it for 7 minutes (not 5, not 10) -- so that the juices settle into the meat (otherwise, when you slice it, you'll have a plate full of juice that should have stayed in the meat). If it's not done, put each half back on the grill for a few minutes -- but be sure not to overcook it. After the tri-tip has rested exactly 7 minutes, slice it VERY thin -- not quite "paper thin" but as thin as you reasonably can with a sharp knife. Cut across the grain, which is across the triangle. An illustration: if you can imaging that the tri-tip is in the shape of a pyramid, then cut it starting at the top of the pyramid and slice horizontally. Thus, the slices will not all be the same size, but the meat will be the most tender. Serve the tri-tip with the fresh salsa, bell peppers with the cheese, pinquito beans, cucumber salad, and toasted sourdough (or sweet, if you prefer) French bread. Fresh Salsa 5 medium tomatoes, chopped 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped 1 small Jalepeno chile, finely chopped 5 Tablespoons cilantro, fresh, chopped 1 lemon, use the juice only Combine all the ingredients except the lemon in a bowl, then add the lemon juice, cover and let stand 2 hours to blend flavors. Makes 5 cups. Can be served with chips (that means corn chips or tortilla chips, not potato chips or French Fries) before serving the main course. The Santa Maria Style Beans definitely shows its roots in the 1950's -- with the addition of the sugar and the MSG. But it's a great recipe if you eliminate the sugar and MSG. Santa Maria Style Beans 1 pound pinquito beans 1 strip bacon, diced 1/2 cup ham, diced 1 clove garlic 3/4 cup tomato puree 1/4 cup red chile sauce (Las Palmas brand) 1 teaspoon dry mustard 1 tablespoon sugar 1 teaspoon salt 1 pinch MSG or Accent (optional) Pick through beans to remove any small stones. Place in pot, cover with water, and let soak overnight. Drain beans, cover with fresh water, and simmer for 2 hours, or until tender. Saute bacon and ham until lightly browned. Add garlic, saute 1 to 2 minutes longer. Add tomato puree, chile sauce, sugar, mustard, salt, and MSG (if using it). Drain most liquid from beans and save. Stir in the sauce and simmer for 1/2 hour. Add some of the saved liquid if they get too dry. Makes 6 to 8 servings. Cucumber Salad: Make a day in advance. Buy one large hot-house firm cucumber (about 12" long and not too fat). Wash it on the outside, and then peel "zebra" style. That is, using a potato peeler, peel in the long direction one long strip. Then skip a stip and peel again, so that the cucumber will have alternating green and white stripes, like a zebra. Then slice thinly across the round section (so that the slices are round and 1/8" thick). Put them loosely into a large glass bowl and add 1/4 cup of salt. Mix the salt into the cucumbers and leave it uncovered and unrefrigerated for 45 minutes. At the end of the time, the cucumbers will be covered in their juices. Rinse them very very thoroughly in cold water to remove all the salt. Then squeeze them hard like a sponge to remove all the water. Add 1/2 cup of sour cream, 2 Tablespoons of red-wine vinegar, and 3 scallions (green onions), finely chopped. Add black pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours before serving.