Tip: Try Tri-Tip

As with most activities in life, the biggest obstacle to cooking lies between your own ears. 

Henry Ford said, "Whether you think you can or can't---you're right."

That's not to say that anyone will reward you for your efforts.  You may be the greatest in the world at something, but that won't necessarily lead to a Blue Ribbon for Most Icing (an award I am proud to say I snagged a few years ago, though I don't like to brag) or similar adulation.



Jay and Kendra at Kern River in July, 1989

No, the satisfaction of setting a goal and accomplishing it may lead to nothing more than self-congratulations.  With regard to cooking, however, it also leads to tasty meals.

Long ago, on a family camping trip to the Kern River, we made some great discoveries.  One was that sitting in an innertube to take a bouncy ride through rapids can be a lot of fun, even if it did require a long hike up the stream and occasionally resulted in bruised backsides from bumping over rocks going down the river.  Another was that tri-tip roast beef makes a delicious main course.

My ex-brother-in-law Sam and I had gone to the store (both of us having remembered our wallets as usual despite being in swim trunks most of the day) to pick up Budweiser and the makings for dinner.  An old, bald dude in orange robes, skulking in the shadows, observed us pondering the butcher's display and decided to help out.  "Tri-tip marinated in Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce."  We started to reply, but he held a single finger to his lips and whispered , "Nuff said."  He ran down the shopping aisle, never to be seen outside of his Himalayan monastery again.

We followed this sage advice, and cooked a great dinner over the campfire that night.  The leftovers became the makings of a legendary breakfast, and the rest is history.

A couple of years later, my Carmel Mountain neighbor Roy introduced me to barbecuing the pre-marinated Bill Bailey's Tri-Tip, and over the years, I grilled quite a few of those in assorted flavors. Had the prices not continued to spiral higher and higher, I might still be cooking those exclusively.

Return to Kern River in 1990

I might have reverted to the Kern River recipe, but worcetershire sauce seems to tenderize my gums to the point that they hurt. This may be something that only I experience, but I'll put it out there nonetheless Because of that, when I found trimmed tri-tip on sale at Ralph's for $3.99 per pound and bought the best looking two-pounder (approximate weight) on display, I took it home and marinated it in Lawry's Mesquite Marinade instead. 

Does this sound familiar?  Well, if you think it is quite similar to my preparation for London Broil, you would be completely wrong. You'll detect no British accent here (except for incidental accents of Leo Sayer, Roy (not actually British but close) and the Moody Blues), so this is a totally different dish.  And to prove it, note this meat has a lot more fat on it, even if it has been pre-trimmed.  We don't like fat, so I trim even more off, but that really isn't necessary (or possibly even advisable, depending on how you view the tastiness of fat and its juices).  For us, however, the marbling of the meat is sufficient without much fat on the sides.

Pour marinade on the roast, then spread the sauce around, poking the roast with a knife or fork to maximize absorption of the marinade.  Sprinkle liberally with pepper and either garlic salt or seasoned salt.  Flip the meat over and repeat the marinade and seasoning process.  I put garlic salt on one side and seasoned salt on the other, and I couldn't tell which was which when I ate it, so do whatever works best for you.

Cover it and let it marinade in the refrigerator for at least two or three hours.  Because I always get a plastic bag at the butcher's counter to isolate meat purchases, I just put the styrofoam tray back in the bag and tied it off with a rubber band, saving an extra dish to clean.

About two hours before dinner, pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees, or if you have a convection oven, make that 375. 

Line a glass baking dish in Reynnolds Non-Stick Pan Lining Paper, with the parchment side up.  Carefully transfer the tri-tip to the dish to avoid splattering.

Put it in the oven and cook for 55 minutes in a conventional oven or 48 minutes in a convection oven.

At the end of the time, remove the dish from the oven and cover it in aluminum foil for about a half hour.  This takes it from pretty rare to medium.  If you want it medium rare, reduce the time under foil to five or ten minutes.  The more often you cook any meal, the better you'll get the hang of what is best for your tastes.

For a side dish last night, we had one of the simplest vegetable dishes of all: uncooked carrots with ranch dressing on the side. 

Jay and Julie on Mother's Day, 2013

However, when my son Jay came over for Mother's Day a couple of days earlier, I made sauteed mushrooms as a side dish for meatloaf, and that was great.

To sautee mushrooms, heat a tablespooon of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Olive Oil Light Spread (boy, that product name rolls off the tongue easily) in a frying pan. 

Rinse and slice six large, fresh mushrooms on a cutting board.  When the ICBINBOOLS is hot, add the mushrooms, then sprinkle liberally with garlic salt.  Stir the mushrooms around to coat them as much as possible, and then add another tablespoon of ICBINBOOLS as you continue mixing it all up.  It only takes two or three minutes to cook mushrooms, and that makes a delicious side dish that really adds a special touch. 

By the way, you can also slice up a yellow squash or zucchini and cook it with the mushrooms in the same manner for an alternative side dish.  Of course you can cook....anything!

And you don't need to make a mess in the process.