I love to cook outdoors. I do it every opportunity I have. Trouble
is, I haven’t turned to The Dark Side and bought a gas grill yet.
I’m strictly a live fire guy. Which means a little more prep-time,
and that’s not always feasible during the week when Mrs. Slappy
and Slappy Jr. want their dinner NOW.
I love grilled tri-tip. It’s one of my favorite things to grill.
One night when it became clear that there was no way in Hades that I
would be grilling outside, I sheepishly cooked a tri-tip indoors using
the following method. And I absolutely loved the results. So here you
go, a relatively simple weeknight meal that seems like fancy weekend
dinner party fare. Indoor tri-tip with cabernet reduction.
Step one. Season the meat.
For this all-important process, over the years I’ve been tirelessly
working on the perfect rub. After countless hours of tinkering, I’ve
finally arrived on a complex rub I call “Salt, Pepper, and Fresh
Thyme.” Clever name, huh? The rub consists of, you guessed it,
salt, pepper, and finely chopped fresh thyme leaves. I do use Kosher
salt and Telicherry pepper, freshly ground. But you don’t have
to. Just mix those three together and rub them all over the tri-tip.
Step two. Cook the meat.
Use a large, oven-proof frying pan for this, you’re going to be
searing on the stovetop and finishing in a hot oven. So take your cast
iron skillet or oven-proof frying pan (I have an All-Clad stainless
number that I love) and heat that sucker up on the stove. Get it incredibly
hot. Much hotter then you think you need. We’re looking for a
good sear and caramelization here and that meat will cool down the skillet
real fast. So go for HOT here, kids. Did I mention hot? Then add a wee
bit if olive oil, followed by that tri-tip roast. Sear it up real good
on one side to get a nice, deep brown color and crispy texture. Then
flip that bad boy and do the other side for a while.
After the bottom side has some color, insert your thermometer and immediately
put the pan and roast into a 400 degree oven. Cook until the meat reaches
125 internal for rare. Caveman Ogg say … rare good! Remove from
the oven and take the meat out of the pan and put it aside to rest while
we make that pan sauce.
Step 3. The Cabernet Reduction
Well, well, well, looky here in the bottom of that pan: fond. The stuff
of life. The primordial ooze from which great sauces evolve. This is
the base of our tasty reduction. Turn the heat up to high and get it
sizzling. To this, add a couple tablespoons of finely minced red onion.
Anthony Bourdain, being the shallot supremacist that he is, would kill
me for substituting red onions. Not only would he kill me, but he would
probably make a lovely force-meat out of my innards. Using shallots.
But hey, he’s not here and I ain’t got no damn shallots.
So red onion it is.
Let that red onion sizzle up for a few seconds before deglazing the
pan with a bit of cognac. Go ahead, tilt the pan toward the flame and
let it burn, baby. Fire is fun. My four-year-old loves this part! Once
the flames subside, then add about a glass and a half of a decent cabernet.
None of this Two Buck Chuck swill allowed. Use something you’d
actually want to drink.
Let that wine reduce way down. Some folks like to add a bit of chicken
broth at this point. If you do, fine. It’s good that way, but
it’s a weeknight and we’re keeping this simple. Next add
a little bit of heavy cream, and let that reduce down some more. After
that, add a squeeze of lemon for brightness.
Next turn off the heat and add about a tablespoon of cold butter, cut
into cubes and stir them in one at a time, letting each one dissolve
before adding the next. It’s important that the heat is off or
the sauce will break, all the fat will rise to the top, and you’ll
look like a complete retard. So be patient and keep stirring, letting
all that butter incorporate. When it’s done, pour off the sauce
into a cool vessel and prepare for slicing.
Finally, try not to drink this stuff straight-up before you slice the
meat.
Step 4. Slice, Sauce, Eat.
Your tri-tip should have rested adequately now while you’ve been
busy making your reduction. So it’s time to slice. Go against
the grain, and make each slice no thicker than a pencil. Plate a few
slices and pour on some of that lovely cabernet reduction. Finally,
being careful to keep foreign objects and important papers away from
your mouth, commence chowing down with reckless abandon.
Not a bad meal for a weeknight.
19. I just love saying, "Hey Lady". Sorry, okay here we go.
Lady Amalthea from Noshes,
Thoughts & Reves brings us Uncle
Wiggly's Stir-fried Turkey and Scallion. Bring it on! I have to
admit, I very much appreciate the scallion. I always have some on hand,
love the bright happy crisp it lends.
20. It's good to see Cookiecrumb from I'm
Mad and I Eat, I was hoping she'd make it. She gives us her My-Go-To
Meal.
21. Look who poked his head in so late? Monky
Gland from Jam Faced and his Sex
and the Skillet.
22. Where ya been Amy? She's from Cooking
with Amy and gives us a Perfect
Peanut Sauce Recipe.
Hey All,
Looks as though this might be the last entry here. If not, email and
let me know if I've missed anyone. I'm very impressed and delighted
by the work, effort and time it took all of you to take time out of
your daily routine and do a post about your daily routine. Thank you
so much and I expect to have some results early this weekend, maybe
sooner. Great effort everyone and good luck to all!
Biggles
