You have to try this – it really works!

Ingredients – Tri Tip:

• 5 lbs tri-tip (probably 2 pieces)
• olive oil
• salt and cracked pepper
• onion – optional
• Ancho Chile Cream

Directions – Tri Tip:

1. First, get an oven.
2. Then get yourself about two 2 ½ to 3 pound tri-tips and rub the meat with olive oil and salt and pepper.
3. Let it come to room temperature before you start to cook.
4. Pre-heat the oven to 425° (You’re going to get the oven nice and hot, then when you put the meat in the oven, you’ll reduce the temperature.) When you cook tri-tip in the oven, it helps to use a roasting pan with a rack to keep the meat off the bottom of the pan. If the meat touches the bottom of the pan it will get a burn spot. One solution is to place a slice of onion between any point where the tri-tip touches the bottom of the pan.
5. Line the pan with aluminum foil to help make cleanup easier.
6. Place the meat in the roasting pan – fat side up. The fat will drip nicely down the sides and keep basting the meat.
7. Place the roasting pan on the center rack of the oven.
8. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°.
9. Check the meat after 30 minutes to see how it is doing. It should barely spring back when you touch the thickest part. It should still be rare in the center, but it should have a nice brown crust of fat. You can let this go a little longer if you like.
10. But once you get a little char on the fat, flip the meat ONE TIME.
11. Cook it on that rack another 10-15 minutes.
12. Then, take it out and tent it with aluminum foil and let it rest about 5 – 10 minutes.

No poking, no flipping, no cutting (yet) just be kind to your meat. The juice is all in there, it’s not going anywhere. Don’t stab it or poke at it. Don’t flip it every two minutes – let it cook! What did your meat ever do to you?  (Remember, you can always cook it more., but you cannot cook it less.)

Slice it across the grain for maximum tenderness.

Source: Tipsycook.com

Ancho Chile Cream

Ancho Chile Cream Ingredients:

• 4 large dried ancho chiles, stemmed, seeded and rinsed
• 1 canned chipotle in adobo, with some sauce
• ½ medium yellow onion, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 tsp oregano
• 2 tsp sage
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 c chopped canned pear tomatoes
• 4 c water
• 3 c rich beef stock
• 1 c heavy cream

Ancho Chile Cream Directions:

1. Combine ancho, chipotle, onion, garlic in a heavy bottomed 3 quart saucepan.
2. In a small skillet, combine cumin, oregano, sage and salt and toast over medium heat until browning and very fragrant.
3. Add spices to the pot along with the tomatoes and the water.
4. Mix well, cover and bring to a boil, reduce heat and uncover, simmering for 30 – 40 min.
5. Let cool for 5 – 10 minutes, then transfer the solid and most of the juice (all if it fits) to a blender and process until very smooth.
6. Strain the chile puree back into the cleaned saucepan, pressing on the solids to extract as much puree as possible.
7. Add the 3 cups of beef stock and return to a low boil.
8. Reduce by about half.
9. Add the cream.
10. Boil slowly again, reducing until thickened to a nice medium sauce consistency. (If the sauce is not thick enough, mix 1 teaspoon of cornstarch with ½ cup of water and add to pan. Stir until thick (almost boiling).
11. Correct for salt.

To serve:

1. Reheat sauce
2. Slice tri-tip ¼ inch thick across the grain and place 2 – 3 slices on each plate.
   Top with 1/3 cup of the sauce.

Serves: 10-12

Source: Sharing the Table at Garland’s Lodge. Sedona, Arizona – Amanda Stine and Mary Garland