Barbecuing can be so fun and rewarding and you can do it in so many different places – the beach, the lake, your home, the park, even on the back of a tailgate – the possibilities are endless! One thing is for sure, barbecues bring everyone together to hangout and converse about all of the good times.
Obviously, there are so many different things you can barbecue. My personal favorite, and a local legendary essential – the famed “Santa Maria Style Tri Tip”. There are so many renditions of Santa Maria Tri Tip, as well as great side dishes to go with. Below I am sharing a family favorite potato recipe to go with and/or roasted cauliflower rice for anyone who prefers a lighter side.
Before we start – Tri-Tip normally varies in thickness through the cut. While some cut it down into smaller pieces for a more even cook, I like to leave it in one whole piece because when I cook it, I’ll keep my “Meater Probe” (one of my best Amazon finds) in the thick part of the meat. Once it reaches 140°F, I know that the thick part is going to be cooked to Medium and as the meat thins out toward the ends, it will be a nice range of Medium to Well. Of course, you can always cook to your favorite temp.
Enough babbling, on to the recipes!
Tri-Tip
Ingredients
| 1 | 2-3 lb. Trimmed Tri-Tip Roast |
Tri-Tip Rub
| 2 tsp | Salt |
| 2 tsp | Black Pepper |
| 2 tsp | Garlic Powder |
| 2 tsp | Paprika |
| 1 ½ tsp | Onion Powder |
| 1 ½ tsp | Rosemary |
| 1 ½ tsp | Cayenne Pepper |
Yummy Basting Sauce
| ½ cup | Vegetable Oil | |
| ½ cup | Red Wine Vinegar | |
| ¾ cup | Dijon Mustard | |
| 6 cloves | Garlic – crushed | |
Notes
I recommend marinating for at least a few hours, the longer the better, however, if you’re short on time (or cooking on a whim like I normally do) this is still tasty if you marinate and immediately cook.
If you do not have a Traeger, remember that you can cook on a grill or oak fire pit. Your cook times will vary a bit.
Instructions
Mix all the dry Tri-Tip Rub Ingredients together in a bowl.
Place the tri-tip in a mixing bowl or baking dish and evenly spread the rub on all sides. Cover the bowl/dish with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator.
Combine the Yummy Basting Sauce ingredients together in a small mason jar. Cover the container and here comes your arm work out… shake until all the ingredients are blended well. This is best if you keep it warm, so I like to keep mine on the oven or next to the grill.
Once you’re ready to cook, set the Traeger to 225°F and let that preheat for 15 minutes (hit that super smoke button if you have that functionality).
Remove the Tri-Tip from the fridge and let rest while the Traeger preheats. Once the preheat process is done, go ahead and place the tri-tip directly onto the grill grate and now it’s time to brush it with the basting sauce. Close the lid and let it smoke for 20-30 minutes. The trick to smoking on a Traeger is to leave the lid closed during the smoke phase otherwise you risk losing that flavor.
Once you’ve smoked the tri-tip for 20-30 minutes, go ahead and open the lid, baste the meat once more and close the lid, turning the temperature up to 450°F. Every 15 minutes, you’ll want to open the lid, flip the meat and baste. You’ll continue this process until your thermometer reads 140°F at the thickest part of the meat. This will likely take 30-40 minutes to reach internal temp.
Remove the tri-tip from the grill and let rest for 10-15 minutes. When you’re ready to serve, slice against the grain in ¼ to ½ inch slices.
Oven-Roasted Garlic Rosemary Potatoes
Ingredients
| 3 lbs. | Small Red Potatoes |
| ¼ cup | Olive Oil |
| 2 tbs | Rosemary |
| 2 tbs | Minced Garlic |
| 1 tsp | Ground Pepper |
| 1 tsp | Kosher Salt |
Notes
These take about an hour to cook. I always like to start this dish right around the time of my main course… No one likes raw potatoes. We love doing these in the Traeger, especially when the weather is on the hotter side and running the oven is not the best idea. These same instructions will apply with the Traeger.
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Cut the potatoes into halves. Place into a mixing bowl with the olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Once they’ve all gotten a little love from the ingredients, place onto a baking sheet into 1 layer. Flip them every 30 minutes and cook until brown or crispy. Remove them from the oven and then toss with Rosemary and season with additional salt and pepper to taste.
Roasted Cauliflower Rice
Ingredients
| 1 | Head, Cauliflower |
| 2 tbs | Olive Oil |
| 1 tsp | Salt |
| ½ tsp | Pepper |
| 1 tsp | Garlic Powder |
| 1 tsp | Onion Powder |
Notes
We’ve cooked this recipe two different ways. Once, following the instructions below. A second time by using the food processor to rice the cauliflower first and then toss with the ingredients, spread out into one layer on a baking sheet and roast in the oven until crispy.
Instructions
Preheat the Traeger to 450°F or Grill.
Remove the leaves from the head of cauliflower and cut into quarters (or eighths if you want more char).
In a bowl mix the Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder and Onion Powder together.
Rub oil on all sides of the cauliflower. Sprinkle the dry mix on all sides.
Place on your Traeger or Grill.
Turn every 10 minutes so that all sides get the char. 20-30 minutes total cook time.
Remove from the grill and let sit for 10 minutes.
Place into a food processor and lightly pulse. The goal here is to rice the cauliflower, but, keep in mind, the cauliflower can turn mushy quick so lightly pulsing it will get it to the consistency you’ll want.
I hope you enjoy these recipes and if you decide to give them a try, please share your pictures with us on Instagram – @pismobeachhomes and @jrgarciarealtor.