Brooke Williamson’s Spiced Tri-Tip With Herbed Corn

This meal has three separate components: a mushroom-and-spice rub, chile butter and corn finished with fresh herbs. Preparing the butter and rub before lighting the grill keeps the cooking stage manageable.

The recipe is credited to Brooke Williamson by Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner.. The ingredient quantities below are retained from the published recipe, while the method is independently written. The source’s grill time is an estimate; the meat’s internal temperature is the important safety check.

Ingredients

• Beef: one tri-tip roast weighing 1½ to 2 pounds.
• Rub: 2 tablespoons toasted black peppercorns; 2 tablespoons salt; 1½ tablespoons smoked paprika; 1 tablespoon garlic powder; 2 teaspoons toasted coriander seeds; 3 to 4 pieces dried porcini, about ½ ounce; 2 teaspoons dried oregano.
• Chile butter: 1 cup softened unsalted butter; 4 stemmed Calabrian chiles; 1 tablespoon tomato paste; 2 minced garlic cloves; zest of 1 lemon; salt as needed.
• Corn: 4 husked ears of corn; 2 minced garlic cloves; 1 minced medium shallot; 4 anchovy fillets; 1 minced Fresno chile; ¼ bunch chopped flat-leaf parsley; 2 tablespoons chopped oregano; 1 tablespoon chopped thyme; salt as needed. Reserve the zested lemon for its juice.

The rub and butter are strongly seasoned. Do not assume you must force every grain of rub onto a small roast. Season evenly, keep unused rub uncontaminated and taste the finished corn before adding extra salt. Anchovies are a fish allergen, and the butter contains dairy.

Prepare before grilling

Grind the rub ingredients into a fine, evenly mixed powder. Pat the roast dry and season its surfaces. Refrigerate, covered, for 30 to 45 minutes. In a separate clean bowl, finely chop or mash the chiles and combine them with butter, tomato paste, garlic and lemon zest. Divide the butter into two portions, one for the corn and one for serving.

Set up the grill with a hotter zone and a more moderate zone. Have a cast-iron skillet, a clean cutting board and a thermometer ready. Keep the plate and utensils used for raw beef away from the finished meal.

Grill and rest the tri-tip

Place the roast over the moderate zone with its narrow end farther from the strongest heat. The source estimates 10 to 15 minutes per side, covered, but thickness, fuel and starting temperature all change the timing. Insert a thermometer into the thickest part.

For a whole beef roast, FoodSafety.gov recommends 145°F (63°C) followed by at least a three-minute rest. This guide uses that minimum, rather than suggesting a lower pull temperature that relies on uncertain carryover cooking. A longer rest, such as the source’s 15 minutes, also gives time to finish the corn. Do not confuse preference labels like “medium-rare” with the actual thermometer reading.

Finish the herbed corn

Grill the ears over the hotter zone until lightly charred, turning so one side does not burn. When cool enough to handle, cut off the kernels. Melt half the chile butter in the skillet and add the minced garlic. Stir in the shallot and anchovies; cook until the shallot softens and the anchovies break down, roughly five minutes. Add the Fresno chile for another minute or two, then stir in the corn.

For extra corn flavor, carefully scrape the reserved cobs with the back of a knife over a bowl and add the collected liquid. Remove the skillet from the heat before adding the parsley, oregano and thyme. Squeeze in lemon juice gradually and taste for seasoning.

Slice across the changing grain

Tri-tip’s muscle fibers do not all run in one direction. Look at the roast before cooking, and again before slicing. Divide it where the grain changes direction, then cut each section across its own grain into thin slices. Arrange with the corn and offer the remaining chile butter separately so diners can choose how much to add.

Refrigerate leftover beef and corn promptly in separate shallow containers. Use the cooked-beef storage window in the federal storage chart; reheat leftovers to 165°F. Leftover sliced beef can go into a sandwich or bowl, but a new dish does not restart its storage time.

Related reading: Michael Symon’s Smoky Grilled Shrimp With Lime.

You may also want to shop for seasonal produce at a farmers market.