Foodies Anonymous

So the other day a tri-tip roast was thrust upon me to cook for dinner. Now, normally I would use one of my favorite marinades and grill that bad boy, but I did not have necessary 4-8 hours of warning. So what to do?  Well I remembered a recipe I stumbled across years ago that consisted of a wet rub that only needed about half an hour of sitting time.  I gave it another look, and what do you know? It held up pretty well!

Equipment

grill or broiler

coffee/spice grinder or mortar and pestle

Ingredients

1 tsp espresso ground coffee

1/4 cup fresh rosemary, chopped

1 tbsp fennel seeds, toasted

2 tsp peppercorns

1 tsp kosher or sea salt

1/4 cup olive oil

1 2 – 2 1/2 lb tri tip roast, trimmed

Procedure

1. Pat the roast dry with paper towels. If the fatty side has a lot of excess fat, trim the fat to your preference. The meat should sit at room temp for about 30 minutes to an hour so it’s not cold inside. This allows it to cook more evenly.

2. Prepare the rub ingredients. To toast the fennel seeds, put a skillet or pan on a medium burner and toast the seeds until they turn golden brown. Gently swirl the skillet while toasting to prevent scorching.  As for the coffee grounds, if you have regular coffee grounds and not the fine espresso, pulverize the grounds in the grinder or mortar until it is a finer powder.

3. Place the chopped rosemary, fennel seeds, salt, and pepper corns into the grinder or mortar and grind until course. Pour the contents into a small bowl and add the coffee (if you didn’t leave it in the grinder) and olive oil. Stir until the whole rub is moistened.

4. Smear the rub on both sides of the roast, and sit on a plate fat side down for 30 minutes. During the last 10 minutes or so, preheat the grill to medium heat.

5. Place the meat on the prepared grill, fat side up. Cook about 10-12 minutes on each side for medium doneness. I prefer tri-tip closer to medium rare, but lots of people like it cooked more, so take as much time as you need.  While grilling, keep your eye on the flames especially when the fat side is down. The fat will cause flare ups and you don’t want to scorch the rub!

6. After both sides are done, remove from the grill and let the roast sit about 10-15 minutes. You can loosely cover the meat with foil if you wish.  This resting period is important because the meat will continue to cook for a few minutes, and the resting allows the juices to redistribute evenly.  If you get impatient and slice too soon, you’ll lose a lot of juices.  After resting, slice against the grain and serve.

Enjoy!