Caralina pit beef and lettuce wraps

Well, i finally broke down and had my first attempt at tri-tip. Im not gonna lie, it was pretty dang good. I actually cooked two of them. One was over on the fire pit and the other was on the rotis. Both were prepared differently but very tasty. It was truly an amazing dinner


 The one at the in-laws house was seasoned heavily with kosher salt, black pepper, paprika, chilie powder, garlic powder, onion powder, lil oregano  and some dry mustard.I then cooked over a fruit wood fire that i let burn down to embers and basted every 10 minutes with my famous beef baste.

What follows is the tales of ones adventures through the firey quests of flavor.. You like that? huh? huh? Me to!

First things first. Find yourself a nice 2-3 pound tri tip roast. I do not trim mine since i like some of the fat to flavor the roast. Its not that it renders into the meat but rather acts as a baste in a way to ensure that the meat does not dry out to quickly.

If you have a commercial brand of beef rubs or any other seasonings you like, feel free to use those for the roast. The one i used above was just what i had on hand. Though the chilie powder does bring a hint of that south west tradition to the table.

Last year our appricot tree ended up going for the ride of a life time. We had a wind storm here that had record winds of close to 120MPH. Our tree survived for the most part but a large section did break and snap. So being able to use the sweet sweet wood from that tree was alot of fun. I like to get it real hot and then let them burn down to nice embers. Makes for a nice even heat.

I love this fire pit. My 15 year old sister in law designed it, using a 40 inch diameter tractor rim as the pit. Her father of course helped and the mother made all the bricks on the bottom from scratch. My father in law is an excellent architect with great talent and eye for implementation.

Once the fire was burning hot and clean, i placed the cooking grate right above the hot embers. I roasted the trip tip for about 45 minutes and flipped every 10 minutes after a bath in my famous beef baste. The baste was a spur of the moment fix. Some red wine vinaigrette infused with pomegranate juice, some beef stock,chili powder, water and lastly, some wooster sauce. I also had some peppers on the grill to be roasted as well. I love fire roasted peppers!

When the tri tip has reached the disred temp(135* for me) pull it and let rest for 10 minutes suspended on some skewers above a paper plate. This way, none of the juices will ruin your beautiful bark. Once rested, slice against the grain and serve hot with your favorite sides.

It goes great as a sandwich made on homemade bread such as this bread i made in a flower pot

I hope you enjoyed this. Now go and make some tri tip!