Santa Maria Grilled Tri-Tip

I never used to buy tri-tip because I had no idea how to cook it. I loved eating it but didn't know how to prepare it and cook it well. This is no longer the case. When I make this tri-tip recipe, my family tells me it's one of the best meals I make. They all love it and gobble it up. It's really not hard to make so if you need a little help on cooking tri-tip, try out this recipe. You won't regret it. I found the original recipe on Allrecipes.com. You can find the original recipe here: Santa Maria Grilled Tri-Tip Recipe

Ingredients

Dry Rub
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp rosemary (I grind mine with a mortar and pestle before I add it in. It adds better flavor)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 beef tri-tip roast (about 2 1/2 lbs)

Marinade
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
4 cloves crushed garlic
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard (If you don't have this, that's okay. I've made it with and without Dijon)

Stir together dry ingredients in a bowl. Coat beef on all sides with spice mixture. Put beef into a glass dish. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours.

Combine marinade and add to the glass dish. Turn beef to get marinade on all sides. Uncover and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. I often do the dry rub and marinade at the same time. It's probably better letting the dry rub sit on the meat for 4 hours before adding the marinade but if you're short on time, you can do both steps at once.

Cooking
I have a small rotisserie machine that I typically cook the tri-tip on. I cook a 2.5-3 lb tri-tip for 30-40 minutes until the center is about 140 degrees. Let rest for at least 10 minutes before cutting.

You can also pan fry this in a cast iron skillet or grill outside. Place meat on pre-heated grill or cast iron skillet. Brush with the garlic-vinegar mixture. Cook meat 4 minutes, flip and baste. Repeat the flip and baste process every 4 minutes until beef reaches an internal temperature of about 130-140 degrees. (I find that the 130 is a little too rare for our family). Let rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing.

Enjoy!

I often double or triple the dry seasoning so I have extra on hand when I want to make a tri-tip.

Trippled Dry Rub
2 Tbsp salt
2 Tbsp pepper
2 Tbsp garlic powder
4 1/2 tsp paprika
1 Tbsp onion powder
1 Tbsp rosemary (I grind mine with a mortar and pestle before I add it in. It adds better flavor)
3/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Laurie's BBQ Sauce

This is the BBQ sauce I grew up on. It's my all-time favorite. It's the perfect blend of seasonings and tastes SO good on the grill with BBQ Chicken. It smells a little strong of vinegar while it's cooking but doesn't taste like it when you eat it. Try it tonight!

I have doubled the original recipe because it will save in the fridge for a few weeks and then I don’t have to make it again for a while before I use it up! I usually just pour it into a canning jar and stick it in the fridge. This recipe is super easy to make and will only take about 5 minutes of prep and 20 minutes to cook. Store in a quart canning jar in the fridge.

If you're cooking for a crowd, throw your chicken pieces into a large roasting pan with about 1 cup of BBQ sauce and pre-bake until cooked through. Then, throw on the grill and baste with fresh BBQ sauce until it caramelizes. This ensures your chicken is thoroughly cooked and it only takes about 10 minutes of grill time depending on how much chicken you are cooking.

Laurie's BBQ Sauce:
Sauté until brown:
½ cup chopped onion in 2 Tbsp bacon drippings or other fat

Add and simmer for 20 minutes:
1 cup water
½ cup apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
½ cup lemon juice
¼ cup brown sugar
2 cups catsup
1 tsp salt
½ tsp paprika
½ tsp pepper
2 tsp mustard
1 tsp chili powder
½ tsp ground ginger

Kabob Marinade

Yesterday I was looking for a good marinade to use on some beef and vegetable kabobs. When I was on allrecipes.com I found two recipes that sounded good. I liked the liquids in one of them and the seasonings in the other so I combined the two added an ingredient of my own and ended up with a DELICIOUS marinade! Definitely worth making again.

Megan's Kabob Marinade

¼ olive oil
½ cup Yoshida’s Original Gourmet Sweet and Savory Sauce (I found mine at Costco)
3 Tablespoons lemon juice
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
2 teaspoons prepared mustard
2 teaspoons McCormick® Grill Mates® Montreal Chicken Seasoning
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
¼ teaspoon meat tenderizer (optional)

Before you put the kabobs on the grill I would recommend sprinkling them with a bit more seasoning...montreal chicken, italian or just a little salt and garlic. Whatever you like best.

This recipe can be used with beef, chicken or other preferred meats. I made the above recipe without the meat tenderizer but I think next time I would use it if I wasn't marinading overnight. If you don't have the Yoshida's sauce (which is great to have around) you can probably make something similar using Teriyaki and soy sauce.

I cubed just over 1 lb of steak and used half of the marinade on the steak. The other half I used to marinade the veggies with. Here are some ideas of good grilling veggies:
Peppers, mushrooms, baby corn, yellow squash, cherry tomatoes, pineapple, small pieces of corn on the cob, asparagus, artichokes, eggplant, zucchini, scallions, and onions.

Depending on the veggies you choose to use, you may not want to marinade them as long as you do the meat. Some of them also need to be grilled longer or pre-cooked before being skewered or they'll be too raw. Ie. my squash was too hard to eat.

Enjoy! It's quick to throw together...you just have to plan ahead as it needs a few hours minimum to marinade.