Santa Maria-Style Tri-Tip
Start this recipe a day ahead to allow the spices to penetrate the meat.
Servings: 6 People
Cost: $25
Equipment
- Roasting pan with rack
- Large frying pan
Ingredients
- 1 2½ lb Tri-tip roast, about 3 inches thick at its thickest point
- ½ tsp Freshly ground black pepper
- ½ tsp piment d’Espelette Also known as “hot paprika”, you can find this in higher end grocery stores.
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- Kosher Salt
- Canola Oil
- 1 sprig Rosemary
- 1 clove garlic, smashed, skin left on
- 5 slices lemon (preferably Meyer lemon, seeds removed) Make the slices very thin.
Instructions
The Day Before
- Trim the meat of all silver skin. Combine the black pepper, Espelette, and paprika and rub all over the meat. Wrap the meat tightly in plastic wrap, set in a dish of some sort and refrigerate.
The Day Of
- Thirty minutes before cooking, remove the meat from the refrigerator.
- Preheat the oven to 300°F. Set a roasting rack in a roasting pan.
- Pat the meat dry with paper towels and sprinkle on all sides with salt. Heat some oil in a large frying pan over high heat. (I know, this annoyed me too. “some oil” as an instruction in a recipe?!? But, just pour in enough to cover the bottom of the pan and you’ll be fine.)
- When the oil shimmers, add the meat and sear, without moving it, for 1 to 1½ minutes to brown the bottom.
- Turn the meat over, add the butter, rosemary, garlic, and lemon slices, and brown the second side of the meat, another 2 minutes or so, as it browns, tilt the pan from time to time and baste the top of the meat with the butter mixture.
- Transfer the meat to the rack and arrange the lemon slices, rosemary sprig, and garlic clove on top.
- Put the roasting pan in the oven and roast for 40 - 60 minutes, depending on the thickness of the roast, until the temperature in the center of the meat is about 135°F. Let the meat rest on the rack in a warm spot (such as the back of the stove) for about 30 minutes for medium-rare, allowing the juices to redistribute.
- Cut the roast into thin slices: the grain in the tri-tip does not follow a straight line, so adjust the angle of the knife as you carve to continue cutting against the grain. Arrange the meat on a platter and garnish with the lemon slices, rosemary, and garlic.