Recipe: Santa Maria-Style Tri-Tip (with wet or dry rub, grilled)

SANTA MARIA-STYLE TRI-TIP

"Long, slow cooking over moderately hot wood or charcoal with wet wood chips gives the meat a wonderful smokiness. Lower heat also cooks the garlic- shallot mixture to a vegetal sweetness, but doesn't burn it."

2 pounds beef tri-tip roast (about 2 pounds)*
1/4 cup strong flavorful red wine vinegar (for basting)

FOR THE PASTE:
1/2 head garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped (about 1/4 cup)
1 large shallot (2 bulbs - about 1/3 cup chopped)
1 1/2 teaspoons Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

ALTERNATIVE - DRY RUB:
1 tablespoon garlic granules
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon sweet paprika

TO PREPARE THE PASTE:
Trim the hard root ends and any green sprouts from the garlic and then coarsely chop. Use a mortar and pestle to blend the shallot, garlic and salt into a fairly smooth paste. Stir in the pepper. (Or, use the mixture of dry rub ingredients, but the fresh paste is preferable.)

Cover the tri-tip with the paste (or dry rub). Cover the tri-tip with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature at least 1 hour before grilling. The paste can be left overnight.

WHEN READY TO COOK:
Meanwhile, use oak, mesquite or hickory wood to fire up the grill, or use wood chips soaked in water with charcoal, or a gas grill. If using wood or charcoal plus soaked wood chips, let the coals burn down to at least medium or better, low-medium heat.

If you cook over a flame or hot coals rather than glowing coals, brush off most of the paste so it doesn't burn, though the meat may then need more salt. Place the meat on a lightly oiled grill; baste once with wine vinegar and cover; baste a second time if desired. Halfway through cooking, flip the tri-tip over and baste. Cover and continue to cook, basting once more a few minutes before the roast is done (125 degrees F for rare; 130 degrees F for medium-rare on an instant-read thermometer). Cover loosely with foil and let rest for at least 15 minutes before carving into 1/4-inch thick slices across the grain.

*Tri-tip -- sometimes called the triangle roast -- is a triangular piece from the bottom sirloin that usually weighs 1 1/2 to 2 pounds. Grilled meat -- with a simple rub and slow cooking over red oak (indigenous to the Santa Maria area) -- makes it Santa Maria barbecue. The rub usually consists of salt, pepper and garlic salt, though some people add twists like cayenne pepper, paprika or parsley. Just go easy on the chile spice if Paso Robles Zinfandel is your beverage, since the wine's alcohol -- often 14 to 15 percent or more -- can fan the flames. Some stores sell pre-marinated tri-tip "Santa Maria-style," including versions in some Bay Area Mollie Stone's and one made by Harris Ranch. Still, it's definitely more fun to buy a tri-tip and make your own Santa Maria-style rub.

Makes 6 servings
Source: San Francisco Chronicle