Three proteins? That's my kind of salad!
Alexis and I made this Tri-Tip Cobb Salad for dinner this week. It's not really an authentic Cobb salad...maybe Cobb-ish? Whatever you want to call it, it's delicious. It features:
- Reverse-seared beef tri-tip.
- Home-cured & smoked sorghum bacon (a recipe from our second book)
- Homemade yeast roll croutons
- Hard-boiled eggs
- Sliced tomato
- French fried onions
- Spring mix
- Homemade blue cheese dressing
I had been craving beef tri-tip recently because Dan Phelps posted one that he cooked on his Kamado Joe at
Learning To Smoke. I mentioned to him that I hadn't seen tri-tip in the Knoxville area in quite a while and then BAM! The very next week, I stumbled across a tri-tip! The Baader-Meinhof effect for meat, perhaps?
![Beef tri-tip seasoned with Santa Maria rub recipe from Certified Angus Beef Brand](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKmAWRpakXQ1bMZRLTKk78g9O-8QhG-g0ter5Le-u6y2AsdlxiWNQtxmgGWyHGz2J7-W0oLEsUp7jdX_CGPHuPDx8gwgABdvN05GB7BL6s8-CULH1Jr34J-d4olb0iQ_rvw512nC3LEQc/s1600/DSC_6163.jpg) |
I lightly coated the tri-tip with avocado oil and then liberally applied the Santa Maria rub all over. A lot of people ask me about avocado oil. It is a high-temperature cooking oil that's excellent for grilling. It has a neutral flavor, much like olive oil doesn't taste like olives, and peanut oil doesn't taste like peanuts. |
![Big Green Egg in a Challenger Designs Torch 42 table and BGE Mini-Max on a utility cart.](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCB6q0EJkDTidmvwj2hxQ5YY-vEPCyTipwUjgje2FB5bQdcRcBAgNCPoGGwHxm8LkeTRGW2lWi23a0eHrAayWF9byKz4CKvnDNb3HcI9VYT1jScQ_vfKZ2FTsj0hWflsNNe8Oc7qOtje0/s1600/Tri-Tip+Beef+Cobb+Salad+DSC_0618.jpg) |
My weapons of choice this day were my large Egg in the Challenger Designs cart, and I used the Mini-Max to fire roast a couple of potatoes. Before you comment, yes, that Egg is out of alignment. I need to get new rings, those are 10 years old, and they just won't hold for long. I've been avoiding dealing with that. When it matters, I use the other Egg in the BGE table, which is newer and in better condition. |
![Big Green Egg set up for reverse searing a tri-tip](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuyXWs8_nh3QIMRpqy3maqxDnTy8y-NqdhlK7T0vK2jKvMSRATfpvHpWnIDnV_Gsfql6lGsEym3B_js4ODP4Yk3z4gESFZP-V1FipBU4UMIWYaFHU5_o1zLN5gNzffhf0msjYq26nmX1I/s1600/Tri-Tip+Beef+Cobb+Salad+DSC_6174.jpg) |
You could use a convEGGtor and standard rack, but I used a slightly different set up to make the reverse-sear easier. I have my cast iron grates on the bottom so that they are pre-heating during the "smoke" part of the reverse-sear. On top, I have an adjustable rig, and I put a heat stone/drip pan on the lower rack creating my indirect setup. That way, when it's time to sear, I just pull out the Adjustable Rig, and I don't have to handle a hot convEGGtor. |
![Beef tri-tip roasting on a large Big Green Egg.](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb85-cG08DKERa23a4zCErSS-pGMIH0SOxNtidlqtk-iaRMRgCdR1vochdtpFdhbO0FSeAhh9YlKw1-fNQzc58ZcDwmxntF2dNnJBebcLxMsfsf-gvDHUlIJ-qjHeZMlzQkpxU6BcouG0/s1600/Tri-Tip+Beef+Cobb+Salad+DSC_6167.jpg) |
I slow roasted the tri-tip at 275°f until it reached an internal temperature of 125°f. That took a little over an hour. |
![Thermoworks Smoke has a max temp data logger so you know when the carry over cooking has stopped.](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDDse2kCUavdxgnWHVCoWQ1ClBJE0pl7HOqJr6kiMDCBeKcfwFLIAaTwtsbPmNw1-lzVRJ5sw4gS-rG4VE3spbU-HDjZlSBZRXx04WNwhehBaZTqhb7BWTWE1B77v1LZsnUEdQ9bMfz8I/s1600/Tri-Tip+Beef+Cobb+Salad+DSC_0628.jpg) |
I pulled the tri-tip and let it rest. I used a Thermoworks Smoke remote probe thermometer to watch the carry-over cooking. Once it peaked and began to fall, I knew that the roast was ready to sear. The rest is a crucial step in the reverse-sear method. It dissipates the energy doing the cooking and keeps you from overshooting the temperature during the sear portion of the cook. |
![Searing a tri-tip roast on a Big Green Egg with Craycort Cast Iron Grates](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrC_TF15tbN9tPHhAqhpVL_is9xp9RD2fOLRkOuznSTq73kQ_Bi8OK7qIlifLX7ubVScDtFrNMRZII13Ul7mQuI_d7UiedWM9Fd6EKEpe5wISkeCREG9QdwGd1Q4Hsl1TydcOQvJG6-v0/s1600/DSC_0634.jpg) |
While the tri-tip was resting, I removed the Adjustable Rig and opened the lower vent to get the coals red hot. The Egg was running about 550°f at this point. I seared it about one minute per side and then hit the edges. |
![Certified Angus Beef Brand has 10 science based standards that makes their beef the best angus beef #bestangusbeef](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPNeOE3f1vZTH_RFR9C5bgMJlCQIDmxAowe6SPuvzwPFpEjoZKsTWAM1VmadM9tKRnjmzZWM1D4W1IPuQ4ZJ7FAzqTcSiOi9Oq3u049AesVzdQMw6CocM7cpswyK6ZIMJIb4Hz-YSOQWs/s1600/Tri-Tip+Beef+Cobb+Salad+DSC_0643.jpg) |
Just like my steaks, I always rest roasts on a resting rack. This trick avoids trapping heat between the meat and a counter surface, which will steam the meat, causing it to lose more juices. Try it yourself sometime. Cook two steaks, place one on a rack, and the other on a plate. Compare the juices lost after 5 minutes and you will see the difference. |
![Beef tri-tip roast cooked on a Big Green Egg using the reverse sear technique](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikxyusrr4ztWuEbkn3EzmDk9aIZVuXKOFR2r3ZuVTjLB3-HXb_1azI5u8hZKgjR6S6WOSMRr7kDMxFmd2uBCDfJxXN0liN-p-57m1Z3qo_cx1oHXA7yIt3AcDCMCGwiYrm2Ms6QDF-LCs/s1600/Tri-Tip+Beef+Cobb+Salad+DSC_0644.jpg) |
Beautiful and crispy on the outside.... |
![Beef Tri-tip roast cooked on a Big Green Egg kamado grill.](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxN4X92ApFlk0ucukxcDZzGPGpUCOBTswfyhU5tevnNMricMiiHxrIp5KpG5TlVSc_bMn3v7RaURnXVrt7XMF-fYB0XZTugqAqpsVEv2PVPSflolzj6A8B11uI0N4TKKZ0ttoYTrCrBJU/s1600/Tri-Tip+Beef+Cobb+Salad+DSC_6205.jpg) |
...tender and juicy on the inside! |
![Beef tri tip with chimichurri](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAOO3PO4fpYEzRqfD-E4rmox8NlDPdOD0CmqrTWRPG5plGIP1wHhrAAxYEfpP7bW7XbbVaKSl0KnRgXPt44odWrGjl7_2cAkDtUxLJiB_YchkRyMQPqTK1neG6jjP-AAcUbIQZEcStfcY/s1600/Tri-Tip+Beef+Cobb+Salad+DSC_0649.jpg) |
The first night, we ate it with a robust chimichurri - fantastic. |
I daydreamed the salad up while at work, waiting on a server to restart. I knew I had the tri-tip at home, and I started thinking of a "steakhouse salad." It was so good that we ate it two nights in a row.
You don't need a recipe for the salad, you can figure it out just by looking. For the croutons, I cut up a yeast roll, tossed the cubes in garlic butter and roasted them at 400°f on a quarter sheet pan. Here is the blue cheese dressing recipe that we use.
Blue Cheese Dressing
- 1 cup Duke's Mayonnaise
- 3/4 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup half-and-half
- 1/4 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup blue cheese crumbled
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon celery seed
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate for a few hours before serving.