Tri Tip

I laid in bed Saturday night thinking about Sunday dinner and craving a classic Kinnersley family dinner. I asked Dave to pull the Tri tip out of the freezer and planned to look at recipes later after church. Then...after a 2 hour nap, needing to go out the door to choir practice, and wanting dinner cooking while we were gone, I frantically looked online for a good recipe. Tri Tip (as I found in my research) has been a popular cut of meat in California for a LONG time, actually most of the tri tips in the U.S. were shipped to Nor. Cal., according to one place I read, until recently when others have figured out its goodness.

I found the following recipe and LOVED it. It didn't need marinating, which I obviously couldn't do at that point and I wanted to roast in the oven, not BBQ. It was perfect! I loved the rosemary and sweet potatoes the most, but the meat was very moist and didn't need gravy (which by my, or Kinnersley standards, is saying a lot!) I cut the potatoes and onions too small so some were overcooked (but hey I pulled this meal together -once I found it- in 10 minutes!)

The changes I made: I sprinkled more rosemary, salt and pepper over it. I cooked it for about 1 hour and perhaps 20 minutes. (I had Dave pull the tri tip out of the freezer at midnight and put it in the fridge so it actually still had some ice crystals on it so it took longer to cook. P.S. remember to close your freezer. oops! though that made dough for rolls a lot easier to raise.) I also used regular potatoes and only had one yellow onion. Wish I had more! I am excited to make this again soon. (And hand the recipe over to my mom for a new twist on the classic Sunday roast dinner).

Mmmm... I cannot wait for left overs tonight. I might follow in my mom's footsteps and make some Au Jus and have french dip. An occasional Monday night dinner at the Kinnersley home.

Tri Tip Roast Supper

1 beef tri-tip roast (approximately 2 pounds)
1 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves, crushed
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium sweet onions, cut into 1-inch thick wedges
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and quartered
Combine rosemary, garlic, salt and pepper to form a paste. Spread half of the herb paste evenly over surface of beef tri-tip roast.
Add oil to remaining herb paste and mix well.
Place vegetables in a large bowl. Pour herb-oil mixture over vegetables and stir to coat evenly.
Place roast, fat side up, in an open roasting pan. Arrange coated vegetables around roast. Do not add water or cover. Roast in preheated 425°F oven for 35 to 40 minutes for rare to medium.
Remove roast when meat thermometer registers 135°F for rare or 155°F for medium. Allow roast to stand, tented with aluminum foil, for 10 minutes. Roast will continue to rise in temperature to reach 140°F for rare and 160°F for medium.

While roast is standing, increase oven temperature to 475°F. Continue cooking vegetables 10 minutes or until tender and lightly browned.
Carve roast across the grain into thin slices. Serve with vegetables.
Makes 8 to 10 servings.

Tip: Tri-tip is also called bottom sirloin.

Recipe and photograph provided courtesy of Texas Beef Council and Beef It's Whats For Dinner.