Category: Beef

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Easy New York Steak on the Stove

We enjoy charcoal grilled steak – or burgers – but sometimes it’s just too much of a hassle to get the Weber fired up for only cooking a steak. Our reliable fallback method is to simply cook the steak on our gas stovetop. Here’s our easy method for cooking a delicious steak on the stove – along with a couple of side dishes. Cooking should take you about 15-20 minutes.

We usually buy a 1 lb New York steak which we will split into two portions. It’s important to take the steak out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking to let it come up to room temperature. Here’s a NY steak – seasoned and resting to warm up a bit:

New York Steak

To cook the steak, I like to use the 3-3-2-2 method popularized by Rob Leavitt. Heat the pan using medium-high heat. Cook the steak 3 minutes on the first side, then flip and cook 3 minutes on the other side. Then flip again to cook for 2 minutes and a final flip to cook for 2 minutes. Check the steak with a meat thermometer to be sure it’s at your desired doneness level – then remove it from the pan to a cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes. You can then either cut the steak into two pieces – or – slice it and serve all of the slices communally on a plate.

We like to either sauté fresh baby spinach or cook a russet potato in the microwave to accompany our steak. Sometimes we even have both!

Sautéed spinach is easy: in a large skillet heat a bit of olive oil and then toss in the spinach. We typically use a half of one of the large baby spinach containers for dinner for two. While the spinach is sautéing, add in a touch of minced garlic and a splash of lemon juice. I usually start the spinach sautéing a minute or two after firing the steak.

A baked potato cooks in about six minutes on high in our microwave. Poke a few holes in the potato and wrap it in a paper towel before putting in it a cereal bowl and then into the microwave.

[Originally posted: May 14, 2021]

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Scott’s Slow Oven-Roasted Tri-Tip

The most popular recipe on ScottsKitchen.com has been my 2005 recipe for oven roasted tri-tip roast. I’ve made tri-tips with that recipe dozens of times (or so it seems!).

More recently, I’ve re-discovered the tenderness benefits of slow roasting beef. There’s another recipe here (2009 Recession-Era Slow-Roasted Roast Beef) that demonstrates that technique. Turns out that technique is used by deli’s to make their roast beef for slicing and sandwiches. It both minimizes the weight loss from cooking the beef plus it allowed cheaper cuts of beef to be used as well.

Turns out that slow roasting can be useful with tri-tip roasts as well. My version using this process follows below. Give it a try and let me know how it works for you!

Ingredients

  • 2.5 to 3 lb tri-tip roast
  • 2 Tbs olive oil or other cooking oil
  • Plenty of salt and fresh ground pepper

Directions

  1. About 30 minutes ahead of time, bring the tri-tip out of the refrigerator to allow it to begin warming.
  2. About 15 minutes ahead of time, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
  3. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil or other cooking oil to a large, heavy ovenproof pan. Heat pan on high.
  4. When the pan is very hot, add the tri-tip, fat side down. Turn heat to medium-high and sear roast for about 4 minutes. Turn the roast and put the pan with the tri-tip into the oven.
  5. Immediately turn the oven down to 225 degrees. Cook roast for about 15 minutes a pound, checking with an instant-read thermometer after 30 minutes. When it reaches 130 degrees it’s medium-rare and time to take the pan out of the oven.
  6. Remove tri-tip to cutting board. Wrap tri-tip in aluminum foil and leave for 10-15 minutes to allow the juices to settle.
  7. Remove tri-tip from the foil and thinly slice it against the grain (in other words, across the grain). Serve on a platter – BBQ sauce or steak sauce totally optional.

(Added: December 17, 2019; Updated: December 24, 2020)

Tri-tip ready for the oven

In the oven-proof skillet about to go into the oven at 350 degrees – and immediately turned down to 225 degrees.

Sliced slow-roasted tri-tip ready to eat – delicious!

Note the beautiful color that this slow roasting technique produces!

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Scott’s 2018 Short Ribs

This is a perfect recipe for a lazy Sunday afternoon – serving two or with guests serving four! The short ribs need about 3 hours to cook – so start around 2 PM and you’ll be ready for a great dinner about 5:30 or 6 PM.

The inspiration for this recipe came from chef Marcus Samuelsson’s Obama’s Short Ribs recipe as described in the New York Times – and it’s also in the chef’s Red Rooster Cookbook – The Story of Food and Hustle in Harlem.

I’ve made several modifications – basically to make it simpler and easier. I usually try to rework recipes that use amounts of ingredients that result in wasting portions that you might buy in standard size packages. So, I adjusted – and simplified – and the result was great!

Ingredients

  • 4 to 6 (6-ounce) bone-in short ribs (about 2.5 to 3.5 lbs)
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 14.5 oz package of Mirepoix (Trader Joes or Whole Foods) – containing 1 onion (chopped), 1 carrot (trimmed and chopped), 2 celery ribs, (trimmed and chopped)
  • 1 lemongrass stalk, trimmed, smashed and minced
  • 3 garlic cloves, chopped – or about 1-1/2 tbs of already minced garlic
  • 1 Optional (1-inch) piece ginger, peeled and minced
  • ½ cup red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon or Zinfandel)
  • 3 cups beef broth (2 cups if only 4 ribs)
  • ½ cup plum sauce (¼ cup if only 4 ribs)
  • ½ cup soy sauce (¼ cup if only 4 ribs)
  • 2 sprigs thyme
  • 2 sprigs flat-leaf parsley
  • 2 bay leaves

Directions

  1. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Pat meat dry with paper towels. Season ribs all over with salt and pepper.
  2. Heat vegetable oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. When oil shimmers, add short ribs and brown on all four sides, about 2 minutes per side; transfer to a plate.
  3. Add mirepoix (onion, carrot, celery), lemongrass, garlic and ginger to the pot. Season with salt and cook, stirring often, until onion softens, about 5 minutes.
  4. Add in wine, beef broth, plum sauce, soy sauce, thyme, parsley and bay leaves and bring to a simmer.
  5. Return short ribs to pot, along with any juices, cover and slide pot into oven. Braise until meat is fork-tender, about 3 hours.
  6. Transfer meat to a plate. Use a ladle to skim the fat off the top of the braising liquid. Discard bay leaves and thyme stems. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  7. Add short ribs and turn to coat in the sauce; set aside until you’re ready to serve.
  8. Serve short ribs in shallow bowls and top with a spoonful of sauce. Put remaining sauce in a bowl for the table. Enjoy!
  9. Serve with the rest of the red wine – and, likely, a second bottle! If there are leftovers, congratulations – as the ribs are even better warmed up tomorrow!

[First posted: February 26, 2018]

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My Favorite Memorial Day BBQ Recipes

Hard to believe we’re into Memorial Day weekend and the unofficial start of summer! It’s a perfect weekend for firing up the BBQ and doing some grilling! Here are a couple of recipe ideas to tempt your appetite:

For a great side dish to go with the tri-tip, try my recipe for Scott’s Easy Baked Onions – or the Melted Onions actually cooked in the charcoal coals of the BBQ.

Fire up that grill – and have a great holiday weekend!

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Scott’s Wintertime Beef, Mushroom and Barley Soup

A favorite of mine this time of year is a hearty beef, mushroom and barley soup.

Some might call it a “beef stew” – and they’d be right. But it’s got a lot of liquid – assuming you use all of the liquids called for – yet has the great flavor of a beef stew. We made this for a second time today – using an amalgamation of one of Mark Bittman’s recipes along with a slow cooker recipe from Cooks Illustrated.

Ingredients

  • 1 oz dried Porcini mushrooms
  • 1.5 – 2 lbs beef chuck roast – cut into 1 inch cubes
  • 8 oz fresh Cremini mushrooms
  • 28 oz canned diced tomatoes
  • 8 oz mini carrots
  • 3 yellow onions – chopped
  • 4 oz tomato paste
  • 8 oz mini carrots
  • 2 oz Penzey’s shallots
  • 2 oz Penzey’s garlic
  • 1/2 cup red wine
  • 1/4 cup tomato paste
  • 28 oz can of diced tomatoes
  • 2 cups beef broth
  • 2 cups chicken broth

Directions

  • Soak the dried Porcini mushrooms in a cup of hot water.
  • In a Dutch oven, heat the olive oil and add the beef – brown for 10-15 minutes. Remove using a slotted spoon. Discard most of the fat remaining.
  • In a separate pan, brown the mushrooms – first dry and later adding a bit of olive oil.
  • In the Dutch oven, add the onions, salt and pepper. Add in the tomato paste, carrots, shallots, and garlic. Add in the mushrooms. Add in the porcini mushrooms – and the liquid while being careful to avoid any grit. Saute for 10 mins. Add the red wine. After 10 mins, add the tomatoes, beef broth and chicken broth.
  • Bring mixture to a boil.
  • Reduce heat to low – cover the Dutch oven and continue cooking for 1.5-2 hours. Taste the beef for tenderness to determine when ready to serve.Serve in large soup bowls – perhaps with crusty bread! Enjoy!
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A Perfect July 4th Tri-Tip BBQ

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Are you planning a July 4th BBQ get together with family and friends this year? If so, the perfect BBQ treat is a tasty, well seasoned tri-tip roast – and you’ll find the preparation and cooking to be super easy:

Either way, you’ll end up with a perfect BBQ treat that your friends and family will really enjoy. Be sure to season the tri-tip well an hour or so in advance. I prefer just kosher salt, coarse ground pepper and a bit of Montreal steak seasoning.

Mix in a few burgers, sausages and hot dogs on the grill for the kids and you’ve got everybody covered!

Have a wonderful 4th of July!

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How to Cook: Easy Tri-Tip Roast on the Gas Grill

Here’s last night’s Tri-Tip finishing grilling on the gas grill. So simple to do!

This was a 2 lb tri-tip roast (smallish as they go) that we cooked on a gas grill last night.

Seasoned ahead of time with lots of kosher salt, lots of ground pepper, and a touch of Montreal steak seasoning

Fired up the grill to preheat for 15 minutes, then 7 minutes per side over the direct burners followed by 20 minutes with the fatty side up.

Let rest for 5-10 minutes wrapped in foil before slicing against the grain Turned out perfect!

This would be perfect for your 4th of July BBQ!

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Easy Oven Roasted Tri-Tips for Super Bowl Sunday

Scott’s Lazy-S Oven Roasted Tri-Tip

Looking for a super easy but delicious treat for your Super Bowl Sunday get together? One of my all-time favorites is my ‘Lazy-S’ Easy Oven-Roasted Tri-Tips recipe first posted here back in 2005.

Whenever we’re having a group get together, this is one of my favorite meats to serve. It’s easy to prepare and cook – less than an hour – and tastes great warm and cool. It’s perfect to put out on a buffet table where guests can come back for me – and they will!

The recipe includes a seasoning step the day before – but that’s optional. If you don’t have that much advance time, just season the tri-tip when you bring it home from the store on Super Bowl Sunday and you’ll be good to go.

Enjoy your Super Bowl – and I hope you share a great tri-tip this year to go along with it!

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What’s for Dinner Tonight? – Sunday, November 13, 2011

Earlier this week, I stumbled across this recipe for Slow Roasted Beef in Tomato Sauce by Joanne Wilson which I promptly bookmarked as something we might want to make as we move into fall, etc.

Yesterday, I was out shopping and ended up buying a 2 lb boneless chuck roast – knowing that I had this recipe in my head. This afternoon we cooked it – and it was just great.

This is one of those lazy Sunday afternoon recipes. There’s a flurry of activity around 1:30 PM as you sear the beef, sauté the veggies, open the wine, prepare the beef stock, etc. Perhaps 20 minutes of serious cooking and preparation – and then you’re in monitoring mode for the rest of the afternoon.

Our approach was a bit different from Joanne’s. Specifically, we had a two pound boneless chuck roast from our local Safeway. After browning it in a bit of olive oil, we sautéed a container of Mirepoix from our local Trader Joe’s before tossing the chuck back on top and then adding the red wine, beef stock, and seasonings. We brought the mixture up to a boil and then backed it back down to the lowest setting on our stove – and just let it simmer for a bit over 3 hours. Along the way, we poked at it every hour or so – getting more aggressive in the last hour.

The result was just perfect. Falling apart tender, superb flavor from the tomatoes, thyme, bay leaves, etc.. We served it simply – with sautéed haricot vert and garlic mashed potatoes. Wonderful.

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Summertime Tri-Tip on the Weber BBQ

My son and family stopped by this afternoon following today’s Sunset Celebration Weekend and we did just what we did last year – grilled a couple of tri-tips on our Weber charcoal BBQ. Turns out, we did just about the same thing last year! With the unusually wet and cool spring we’ve had in northern California this year, today was literally the first time we pulled the cover off the Weber to grill something!

I picked up two plain tri-tips earlier today from Bianchini’s Market in Portola Valley. The first we seasoned with Tom Douglas’ All Purpose Smoky Barbeque Rub – picked up this morning from Tom’s booth at the Sunset event. The second we seasoned with rock salt – with a healthy dose of fresh ground Penzey’s Special Extra Bold™ Black Peppercorns on both. We seasoned the tri-tips about 5 hours before we started grilling and put them back in the ‘frig.

Like last year, I used Lazzari Mesquite Charcoal – which burns hotter than briquets, cooks to tri-tips faster and adds a very nice charcoal cooked flavor to the meat. Once lit in the chimney lighter, spread the coals all to one side of the Weber – that’s going to be the direct heat side.

I seared the roasts over direct heat 5-7 mins per side (to a bit of nice char) and then cooked them on the indirect heat side for another 20-25 minutes until they reached an internal temperature of 130 degrees. Once they’re at that temp, wrap them in foil and let them sit for at least 15 minutes to let the juices re-enter the meat. Then slice thinly across the grain and serve – preferably with an nice accompanying BBQ sauce. I had also picked up a jar of Tom Douglas’ Ancho & Molasses Barbecue Sauce this morning at Sunset – and it was a perfect accompaniment to the tri-tip!

We also grilled some veggies to accompany the roasts – including corn on the cob, onions, baby bok choy, zucchini and bell pepper. We cooked the veggies mostly over direct heat – taking care not to let them burn – while the tri-tips were cooking on the other side of the grill.

A great meal and first time BBQ of the season!