Smoked Beef Tri-Tip and Lone Star Hot BBQ Sauce

Smoked Beef Tri-Tip & Lone Star Hot BBQ Sauce

With Father’s Day just around the corner, it’s time to break out the grill and get barbequing! This is a great recipe for Dads to tackle, or for their loved ones to cook with them, whether it be out camping, on a picnic, on the beach, or just in your own backyard. There are few ways of cooking that are quite as fun as BBQing in the great outdoors! We got this Texas-style recipe from Austin’s Restaurant, famous for its classic, homestyle barbequed meat dishes.

About the chef: Chef Victor Paez discovered his love for cooking when he spent a summer when he was 12 with his uncle, who at that time was the Executive Chef on the Queen Mary in Long Beach. He was emphatically taught about the importance of the freshness and quality of ingredients. Later he took up cooking under some local chefs in the Bay Area, eventually working under Chef Dana Clark at Bourbon Street in Mountain View, where he learned the ways of Cajun Creole cooking in New Orleans. He later had the pleasure of working with Jacque Robert, at the then famous Ernie’s Restaurant in San Francisco. In 1981 he enrolled at the CCA in San Francisco and was soon hired at Michael’s in Sunnyvale under Chef Al Saarne. After that he moved on to manage Nicolino’s in Sunnyvale for 13 years, and finally ended up at Austin’s in 2004, where his objectives have been to create a more diversified menu with an upscale edge.

Austin’s Restaurant 
1616 West El Camino Real 
Mountain View, CA 94040 
650-969-9191 
www.austinsbbq.com

Smoked Beef Tri-Tip and Lone Star Hot BBQ Sauce

Austin’s Restaurant

(Smoked Beef Tri-Tip and Lone Star Hot BBQ Sauce is served at Austin’s for $10.95 with choice of side dish. Cook at home cost is $4.81.) Serves one.

 This is a 2-part recipe: 
Smoked Beef Tri-Tip 
Lone Star Hot BBQ Sauce

Ingredients: 
4 Tbsp. Paprika ($ .02) 
2 Tbsp. Chili Powder ($ .04) 
1 Tbsp. Cayenne Pepper ($ .06) 
1 Tbsp. Garlic Powder ($ .08) 
1 Tbsp. Ground Ginger ($ .06) 
1 Tbsp. Dry Mustard ($ .03) 
2 Tbsp. Kosher Salt ($ .01) 
2 Tbsp. Fresh Ground Pepper ($ .01) 
1 Tri-Tip Roast (1.5-2.5 lbs) ($2.85)

Sift the first 6 ingredients together. Then combine them with the salt and pepper and mix well. Use the spice rub to coat all sides liberally, approximately 2 ounces per tri-tip. Letting the meat sit briefly at room temperature is fine; it will allow the spice rub to penetrate the fabric of the meat much better. The tri-tip is a lean, boneless, economical cut of meat taken from the bottom sirloin of the cow. The tri-tip roast is also called a triangle roast. It has great texture and flavor and tends to be lower in fat than most other cuts of beef. Ordering from a butcher is the best way to obtain the proper cut. Beef brisket can be used as a substitute (if cooking brisket, lengthen to smoking time to 8 hours for a 10 lb. piece).

Smoking is a process where by meat is cooked with the indirect application of heat from smoldering wood, usually at low temperatures, such as 225 F. The smoke of the burning wood adds significant flavor to the meat. Use different woods to infuse different flavors into the roast. Due to the lower temperature, smoking meat takes much longer time than grilling. You'll need to prepare your fire. Although a gas grill is less work, you can use a kettle charcoal grill and burn mesquite, which can reach 700 degrees F. Make sure you have clearance overhead. You shouldn't be near trees, cables and roofs. Build a cone shape in the middle of the base. We like to have a piece of oak soaking in water while we get the mesquite going. Douse the mesquite with starter fluid once, then wait five minutes and repeat. Wait another minute or two, then strike a match. The flame will reach 5-6 ft., so step back quickly.

Wait for the coals to turn white so that all starter fluid has burned off and coals are at their hottest. Rake coals to one side of the base and put the grill top back on. Place your two or three tri-tips over the hot coals and sear on both sides to seal in the spices and the juices. Searing can be also done on a gas grill. When you are satisfied with the exterior color, remove the meat to a platter. Lift the grill and add the moist piece of oak over the coals. As mentioned earlier, the main source of heat will be on one side of the base. The objective is to cook over indirect heat. Put your grill back on and place the meat over the side opposite the fire. You will need to open the vents on the bottom and the lid of your kettle grill. Most gas grills will allow you to regulate heat in the same fashion. Remember to add wet oak wood or chips for flavor.

Cooking a tri-tip will take about 30-45 minutes. Cook until the meat reaches 130-145 F, depending on how rare you want it. The longer you let the meat cook under the hood of the grill, the more the meat will taste of smoke. In any case allow the meat to rest 10 minutes before carving, so that the juices won't bleed out.

Just remember, in Texas the BBQ sauce is always on the side so the meat can speak for itself. Feel free to use our simple Lone Star Hot BBQ Sauce recipe to compliment your meat.

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