Tri-Tip & Grilled Endives (BBQ)

[Rich_L]

This is a bit of a Southern California speciality, with the 'tri-tip' cut being popularised in Santa Maria a few miles north of Santa Barbara. It is a triangular cut from the where the bottom sirloin meets the round (hence the name) and will vary from around 1.5lbs to 2.5lbs normally, the meat itself is slightly tougher than top sirloin but nicely marbled which makes it perfect for BBQing.

The way I normally cook it is to marinade in a freezer bag in the fridge for about an hour or two, the marinade being made of olive oil, lemon juice, fresh oregano and garlic.

Fire up the BBQ and get it nice and hot, then sear the outside for about 5 minutes each side (turning after halfway) (this time I had a couple chunks of mesquite log burning on the side for some smoke flavour which you can see in the background)

Flip and turn on each side to get some nice cross-hatching for presentation

After searing place up on the warming rack, or onto your 'indirect' cooking part and let it cook for 15-20 minutes. Remove and let rest for 10-15 minutes

Slice across the grain - the nice thing about tri-tip is normally one end is thicker than the other so you can cater for different tastes while cooking the same time as usually one end is 'more done' than the other.

I served it this time with some grilled Belgian Endives which were pretty tasty, just brushed with olive oil, some oregano and grilled for 5 minutes, after grilling I drizzled some more olive oil, oregano and some salt and pepper.

Was pretty good! If you can get your local butcher to understand and do this cut then give it a go, it's ace!

 

[Rich_L]

This one was pretty much 2lbs on the dot and cost $7.49 a pound, as a rule depending on the quality the lower end tends to be about $3.99 a pound going up to $9.99 a pound at a farmer's market/whole foods store.

So was $15 but served 4 comfortably, it doesn't really shrink too much.

Glaucus - the issue outside of the US (and even in places in the US) is that butchers are unaware of the cut and end up cubing it or using it in ground beef - madness!

Maybe try taking this picture in to a butcher? However this is US terminology and when you look at an equivalent UK cut map there isn't really a direct equivalent, it's like
bottom rump' or 'flank roast' or something Or try asking for 'triangle roast' which it's sometimes called.

i.e.

vs.



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[Rich_L]

Right exactly, you'd have to get at a place where they work from the whole carcass as from what I've read if a butcher receives a half-carcass often the tri-tip is missing as it's been cut and ground up or cubed already.

If you can catch a butcher/farm shop on a quiet day, show them this on a tablet or something

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGThPX22x5s

Hope you manage to find some though, it's a great cut of meat, perfect for grilling. As you can see from the (US) picture and where it comes from, it's like a cross between sirloin and rump in texture and taste.

I'd also add though if that doesn't prove fruitful, you can do a butterflied leg of lamb (do the butterflying yourself or ask a butcher which is probably easier) almost identically with the marinade and cooking instructions and it will turn out great, have done this a number of times as well.