Tri-Tip Tips

Thanks to my Mamma, I have become a freezing goddess.

She gifted to me a beautiful standup freezer and in a few short weeks I have managed to fill it with all sorts of wonderful stuff:  homemade stock, of course (and not just brown veal -- I've made chicken and vegetable stock too!), fresh squeezed citrus juices, bananas (because The Bodyguard buys too many -- I think on purpose, so that I'll make banana bread)... oh I could go on and on. 

I now look for sales at the butcher counter and snap up bargains when I can... who am I and what have I done with The Town Tart?!

One of those bargains of late was tri-tip -- they were recently on sale for 1/3 of the regular price, so I bought four roasts, which originally would have cost $120 for only $40.  Pre-freezer, I would not have been able to take advantage of such deals, but now!  Look out!

So, what to do... what to do... with the tri-tip.  We are currently grill-less (that would be, without a grill or BBQ) and that's how I usually do tri-tips.  I was in the mood to cook one -- truth be told, I was ordered to because the freezer is too full... The Bodyguard said "You have to cook some stuff so we can buy more stuff!"  Well, okay, Big Man -- your wish is my command.

I decided on making a harissa type paste to flavor it up a bit and then just roast it in the oven.  This sauce was crazy-good!

I made a lot because I wanted to have plenty left over for dipping the finished roast.  Here's what I did:

Harissa Paste

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon caraway seeds

1/2 cup olive oil

12 garlic cloves (you can leave them whole)

1/2 cup of garlic chili paste (I used sambal oelek)

1/4 cup tomato sauce

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon chili powder

Directions:

Toast caraway seeds in small skillet over medium heat until seeds darken and begin to pop, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Add olive oil and garlic cloves to caraway seeds in skillet. Remove from the heat and let stand 1 minute. Pour caraway mixture into food processor. Add chili paste, tomato sauce, cumin, and chili powder and blend until garlic cloves are pureed. Season harissa to taste with salt.

I then seasoned the roast with salt and pepper, and then slathered the roast with the harissa paste on both sides, set it on a rack in a roasting pan, stuck a thermometer in and stuck it in the oven at 400 degrees.  When the tri-tip reached 130 degrees, I pulled it out and let it rest... and then we carved!

The roast was gorgeous and juicy and the harissa just through it over the top.  I don't know if I'd leave behind my tried and true grilled tri-tip recipe, but this was really lovely.

And wait till you see what I did with the leftovers... you might not have guessed, but there was a freezer involved!  ;)

Stay tuned! 

Comments

[Julia]

I've never roasted a tri-tip. Like you, I always BBQ it. BTW, what the f- are you doing without a que? Do you need me to buy you a Weber or what? I could feign (sp?) an anniversary of some sort... like I've known you for 25 years or you're about to turn 43, er, 28. Or something!

[The Town Tart]

Jules, I know... it's a sad sad tale that I find myself without a BBQ. It was left behind. Come Spring I will likely get a Weber Kettle, because I have three more tri-tips in the freezer!!!