Grilled Tri-Tip Steak with Bell Pepper Salsa

Tri-tip roasts are popular here in California; it's a flavorful cut, perfect for barbecuing and grilling. Triangular in shape, it is also called sirloin tip, culotte steak, triangle steak, and Santa Maria-style. The tri-tip cut is rather lean and can get tough if over-cooked. So, don't trim the fat before cooking (it will be needed to keep the steak tender), and use a meat thermometer and stop the cooking at 130°F. This cut can be hard to find outside of California, though I understand that both Costco and Sam's Club carry it. You can also use this recipe with a flank steak.

Why the bell pepper salsa? Well, we were out of tomatoes and chiles, but we happened to have bell peppers, green onions, and chile flakes, and you know what? It was great. Perfect with the steak.

Grilled Tri-Tip Steak with Bell Pepper Salsa Recipe

• Prep time: 5 minutes
• Cook time: 30 minutes

If you don't have a grill, you can prepare the tri-tip by browning it in a hot cast iron pan on the stove top, then placing it a 325°F oven until the internal temperature of the steak/roast reaches 130°F.

Ingredients

Marinade

• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp sherry vinegar or apple cider vinegar
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• A couple of turns of freshly ground black pepper
• A sprinkling of salt

Steak

• 1 2-pound tri-tip steak or roast
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Salsa

• 1 large green bell pepper, stem and seeds removed, finely chopped (if you don't have green, probably any color will do)
• 6 green onions, thinly sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 Tbsp chopped parsley, basil, or arugula
• 1/4 teaspoon red chile flakes
• 2 Tbsp sherry vinegar or apple cider vinegar
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method

1 Prepare the marinade in a large bowl, stirring together all of the marinade ingredients. Place steak in the bowl and coat on all sides with the marinade. Let the steak sit in the marinade and come to room temperature while you prepare the grill. (No need to marinate the steak more than 20 minutes or so.)
2 Prepare the grill for direct high heat. If you are using charcoal, use approximately 5 pounds of coals. Bank the coals so that more of them are on one side than the other, so that you have a high heat zone and a lower heat zone.
3 When the grill is ready and hot, remove the meat from the marinade and dry it all around with paper towels. Sprinkle all sides of the tri-tip generously with both salt and freshly ground black pepper.

4 Place the tri-tip on the grill, on the hot direct heat side. Leave the cover off and watch carefully for flare-ups. As the meat browns, any fat will melt and drip on to the coals causing flare-ups. These are okay, as long as they don't get out of control. Keep moving the tri-tip around the grill away from the flames if they get too high. After one side of the meat is browned (about 5 minutes) use tongs to flip it on to the other side. When it is browned all around, move the tri-tip to the lower heat side of the grill. Cover the grill and close the vents enough so that you maintain about 300-325°F temperature in the grill. (If you are using a charcoal grill, you can place a meat thermometer through the vents to measure the heat.) If you are using a gas grill, turn off one of the burners and move the meat over that burner for indirect heating.

5 Cook the tri-tip until a meat thermometer reads 130°F when inserted into the thickest part of the meat (15-30 minutes, depending on the thickness of the meat). Remove the tri-tip from the grill. Cover with aluminum foil and let rest for 10 minutes.
6 Prepare the salsa by combining all of the salsa ingredients into a small bowl.

7 Cut the tri-tip in 1/4-inch slices against the grain. Serve with the salsa.
Yield: Serves 6.

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