West Coast Fave - BBQ Tri Tip!

So once again my sister Megan (one of the Beauties) is out gallivanting. This time, she is road-tripping in Italy before joining the rest of the crew on her newest yacht to tour the Mediterranean.  Tough life, right? Before she left, she gave me strict instructions to provide a guest post for the Beauties, so here goes!

Megan was able to make a very quick trip to visit before she started her latest adventure.  I asked her for her dinner request, and she asked for tri-tip.  For those not familiar with it, tri-tip is a cut of beef mostly used in the West - I really only started eating it when I moved to Los Angeles

For those really interested in tri-tip, Wikipedia has some handy dandy info about tri tip which you can find by clicking here. 

Twice a year our little beach town has a local event called Fiesta Hermosa. In the food tent area of the Fiesta, a restaurant from Santa Maria sells phenomenal tri-tip sandwiches.  My husband Scott was convinced he could do better, and I think he did.  Below is the recipe we use, and we made for Megan:

Scott's Tri Tip Sandwiches

Ingredients

Tri tip (we buy the 2 pack from Costco, and 1 tri tip will serve 4)

2 tablespoons of Lawry’s Salt

1 tablespoon of garlic powder

1 tablespoon of onion powder

2 teaspoons of pepper

Optional

1 onion

1 green pepper

1 red pepper

3 jalapeños

Tater tots

Cajun salt (we use Louisiana Fish Fry Products Cajun Seasoning)

Steps

• Slice all the vegetables (de-seeding the jalepenos to reduce the heat), and place in a saute pan with 1 tablespoon of oil.  You can use any combination of veggies to suit your preference, and skip the jalapenos all together if you are preparing for little ones. 

Sliced veggies ready to sauté

• Preheat the oven, and salt the tater tots
• Let the meat warm to room temperature
• Mix the spices together 
• Generously coat tri-tip with seasoning, setting aside a small portion of the seasoning (to use later to season meat when cooked
• Light up the grill, and let it heat up. 
• Cook meat, fat side up, on indirect heat and cook to desired doneness.  Scott recommends using a meat thermometer and cooking to medium rare.

Seasoning the tri tip

• Put the tater tots in the oven (timed to finish when the meat comes off the grill)
• When the meat is mostly done, sauté the veggies
• Pull the meat off the grill and let it rest for 5 minutes or so
• As thinly as possible, slice the meat (we use a meat slicer)
• Top toasted rolls or buns with meat and veggies
• Serve with crispy Tater tots and extra tri-tip seasoning.  I also like a little creamed horseradish sometimes

Seasoned and crispy tater tots

This is a simple, flavorful, and affordable way to enjoy the grill.  Happy tri-tipping!

Unfortunately, I didn't capture a picture of the entire dish,
so you will just have to enjoy this picture of Megan and Curly cuddling on the couch!