Esta es una exhibición prevé de cómo se va ver la receta de 'Thomas Keller's Santa Maria Tri-Tip Roast' imprimido.

Receta Thomas Keller's Santa Maria Tri-Tip Roast
by Monte Mathews

Chef Thomas Keller

Today marks a milestone in the history of Chewing the Fat. Since we started this blog almost 6 years ago on the 30th of October, we've seen our readership grow from a few faithful friends to over 37,000 page views last month alone. And today marks our 600th post! What better way to celebrate than to revisit our most popular recipe ever. It's from Thomas Keller and it tops the best-read list with 17,514 page views. In many ways, it epitomizes what I try to do here every week: Tell a story, share a food discovery and along the way entertain our readers. That's why I think this post bears repeating today. So here's to Chewing the Fat and here's to you my dear readers.

When Trader Joe’s came to our neighborhood,

it brought plenty of California with it.

Among the items was something called a Tri-Tip Roast of beef. I’d never heard of the cut at all but TJ’s

meat case is full of the stuff. Trader Joe’s brands practically everything in

the store with its own label. So you’ll

find several pre-marinated versions of the Tri-Tip all attributed to the

retailer. I know I should appreciate the

time-saving this gives the harried cook who rushes into the store at the end of

the day and has to get dinner on the table the moment he or she gets home. But

if, like me, you want to control sodium intake and everything else that goes

into processed foods, Trader Joe’s offers a virgin version of the beef. However I still had no idea what the cut was

or, for that matter, how to cook it.

Then I ran across a recipe for Tri-Tip from none other than the great

Thomas Keller.

Let’s get the question of what a

tri-tip is so we can move on to our recipe and Thomas Keller. It’s a 1 ½ to 2 ½

lb. triangular piece of meat that sits at the bottom of the sirloin. Because it is extremely low in fat, it generally

ended up in the hamburger pile or chopped into cubes for soup making. Today it is prized for its rich flavor. However, having a lower fat content means it can dry out faster than fattier cuts. But use a good rub or marinade, and it’s hard

to go wrong. And almost certainly it

will win you over on price if nothing else.

Or perhaps you will be tempted to try it because Chef Keller uses it.

Per Se overlooks Central Park Thomas Keller is surely one of the most

famous of all American chefs. “The

French Laundry” in Yountville, CA would put him in that category all by

itself. But Chef Keller’s other

offerings sealed his place in the culinary firmament. His Per Se, down the street from us at

Columbus Circle, is considered one of the city’s absolute top restaurants and

has been since the day it opened in 2004.

Per Se also has the distinction of being at the very top of the city’s

restaurant price lists. Its seven course

prix fixe is offered at $295.00. Without

wine. Lunch is a virtual bargain: $175.00

prix fixe but that’s for only 5 courses.

Without wine. So what, you may

wonder, is Chef Keller doing with a roast of beef that sells at Trader Joe’s

for $6.49 a lb?

The recipe comes from Keller’s “Ad Hoc

at Home” (Artisan/Workman 2009), and it contains many of the items served at Chef

Keller’s second restaurant in Yountville, "Ad Hoc". I have three of the Chef’s cookbooks, “The

Laundry” and “Bouchon”, and while all three are filled with glorious food,

gorgeously photographed, the recipes in the first two books are just pipe

dreams for most home cooks. “Ad Hoc At

Home” succeeds in making its recipes far more approachable.

An early postcard of the Dune Club

in Naragansett, RI where Thomas Keller

got his start. Before I get to the actual recipe, I

want to repeat a story that Jane Kramer wrote about Thomas Keller in the New

Yorker in 2005. It

seems that, at age 20, wanting to spend the America’s Cup season in Newport,

Rhode Island, Keller needed to find a job.

One day on the beach in Naragansett, RI, he met his mentor. A chef at the Dune Club, Roland Henin hired

Keller to work in his kitchen. Later

Keller would say that what he admired most about Chef Henin had nothing to do

with cooking: The Chef was “6 foot 4,

French, in his thirties and had a great-looking girlfriend and his own

Jeep”. What exactly Keller learned that

summer was hard to imagine. As Ms.

Kramer points out the membership of the Dune Club “usually sat down to dinner

three sheets to the wind and unlikely to taste the difference between a

homemade demi-glace and a can of College Inn.”

Apparently Chef Keller applied himself vigorously and the rest, as they

say, is history.

Ad Hoc, as you can see, is no Per Se. The recipe for Santa Maria Tri-Tip

takes its name from the town of Santa Maria, just north of Santa Barbara

CA. That town was famous for using this

cut of beef at barbecues. This recipe

browns the meat on the stovetop and finishes it off in the oven. But when

summer comes, it will be worth trying on the grill. First, it is rubbed all

over with two kinds of paprika and freshly ground pepper, wrapped tightly in

plastic wrap and left to overnight in the refrigerator. The next day, you take it out of the

refrigerator a half hour before cooking.

The Meyer lemons and the rosemary give the dish a surprising amount

flavor, so do the requested basting on the stovetop. After browning, your Tri Tip roasts in a low

oven for 40 minutes. The recipe says for

40 to 60 minutes but I found it was ready in 40 and my Tri Tip topped the

scales at 2 ½ lbs. Let it rest a good

long time then carve against the grain.

This is a great way to enjoy roast beef mid-week. And to be able to say, “I had dinner with

Thomas Keller the other night…”

Recipe for Santa Maria-Style Tri-Tip from Thomas Keller’s “Ad

Hoc At Home”

One

the meat. Wrap the meat tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Thirty

minutes before cooking, remove the meat from the refrigerator.

Preheat

the oven to 300 degrees F. Set a roasting rack in a roasting pan.

Pat

the meat dry with paper towels and sprinkle on all sides with salt. Heat some

oil in a large frying pan over high heat. When the oil shimmers, add the meat

and sear, without moving it, for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes to brown the bottom. Turn

the meat over, add the butter, rosemary, garlic, and lemon slices, and brown

the second side of the meat, another two minutes or so. As it browns, spoon the

butter mixture over the top of the meat from time to time. Transfer the meat to

the rack and arrange the lemon, rosemary, and garlic on top.

Put

the roasting pan in the oven and roast for 40 to 60 minutes, depending on the

thickness of the roast, until the temperature in the center of the meat is 135

degrees (or 125 degrees if you are me). Let the meat rest on the rack in a warm

spot (such as the back of the stove) for about 30 minutes for medium rare,

allowing the juices to redistribute.

Cut

the roast into thin slices, carving against the grain. Garnish with the lemon,

rosemary and garlic.