Santa Maria Style Tri Tip Steak

So this is my NEW favorite meat recipe that I pulled from the blog, Simply Recipes. You can keep your filet mignon, your rib eyes and your giant roast beast.  This recipe is easy and pretty foolproof.  I had posted another tri tip recipe using a red wine  marinade, but that requires forethought and planning and marinating.  This recipe is easier and, frankly, better.  And requires only the forethought of having an awesomely stocked spice collection and catching the tri tip sales at your local market.  

My family likes it rare, hence the "dead cow walking" look to the photo, but you can cook it longer if you like.  This is one of the few recipes that my entire family gets happy about...can you imagine this universal enthusiasm for the sweet potato recipe I posted earlier?  Clearly a carnivorous crowd.

Ingredients

1 Tri tip roast, 2 1/2 to 4 lbs, well marbled with fat

Santa Maria Rub (enough for a 4 pound roast)

1 Tbsp Kosher salt

1 Tbsp finely ground black pepper

1 Tbsp garlic powder

1 Tbsp onion powder

1 teaspoon cayenne

1 Tbsp dried oregano

1 teaspoon dry rosemary (or fresh, finely minced)

1/2 teaspoon dry sage

Procedure

1 Mix the rub ingredients together in a bowl. Sprinkle the rub on the meat on all sides, and massage the rub into the meat. Cover and let sit at room temperature for an hour.

2 Prepare your grill for hot direct heat on one side, and indirect heat on the other. Sear the roast on all sides, 3-4 minutes per side. Carefully watch the roast during this process as one side of the roast is typically quite fatty and as the fat heats up it can drip down and cause flare-ups. Keep moving the tri tip away from the flame if flare-ups occur.

3 Once the tri tip is seared on all sides, move it away from direct heat and place it fat-side up on the grill rack.  If you are grilling on charcoal or wood, you may want to turn the roast over every few minutes, for more even heating. Try to maintain a grill temperature of 250°F to 300°F.

4 Cover the grill and cook until the temperature of the interior of the tri tip reaches 120°F for a rare roast, 130°F for medium-rare and 140°F for medium. At this point the meat will take anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes to cook, depending on how hot your grill is, how well done you want it, and the size of the cut. Note that the interior temperature will continue to rise at least 5°F after you take the roast off the heat.

5 Once the roast reaches temperature, remove it from the grill and let it rest, loosely tented with foil, for 10 minutes. Slice against the grain and serve.