Tri-tip is a great piece of meat to smoke and slow cook or grill. A lot of people are not familiar with the type of meat or how to go about cooking it. Tri-tip is a newer cut of meat that is being used in homes and restaurants across the United States.

The tri-tip is a cut of beef from the bottom sirloin, it is a small triangular muscle that is usually 1.5 to 2.5 lbs per roast.

Tri-tip was originally used for hamburger or for stews or soup because butchers considered it to be a waste to display because there is only one cut per side of beef. Now, because carving is done by packers, it is more available in meat sections. In 1950, it became popular in Central California as the “Santa Maria Steak”. It is found in the New York area as a New Port Steak, throughout Europe, Mexico and South America. This often overlooked piece of meat is not only relatively inexpensive, but also very flavorful and has become a favorite amongst those in the know.

With the tri-tip being a lean piece of meat, you must be careful not to overcook it. There are several ways to prepare tri-tip one way being “The Santa Maria style”. This style of cooking tri-tip is to rub with salt, pepper, garlic and other seasonings, put over red wood and smoked then baked in an oven and finished on a grill, then sliced thinly across the grain for serving with BBQ sauce. There are many tips and ideas on how to cook tri-tip to perfection. Always bring your steaks to room temperature before you cook it, this helps keep the steaks cook evenly. Tri-tip is great with a meat tenderizer and dry rub seasoning applied before cooking. If you have a way to smoke the meat before you grill it, that really enhances the flavor. Put the roast on the grill and be patient, try not to stab, poke or flip the meat too often, as the juices will escape letting out flavor and drying out the meat. After you have cooked the meat (we recommend medium rare to medium), let the roast rest for 5 to 10 minutes before slicing. You can slice the steak thinly or cut into 1/2 inch steaks. We love to serve tri-tip with a great BBQ on the side. Happy Cooking!

Have you fallen in love with these fabulous meatballs during Salem’s best happy hour in town? Here is your chance to make them at home!

Real Meatballs

• ½ pound of lean ground beef
• ½ pound of lean ground pork
• 1 cup of bread crumbs
• 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• 2 tsp. black pepper
• 2 tbsp. of fresh flat leaf parsley chopped
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• ½ tsp. dried oregano
• 1 large egg beaten
• ½ cup fresh grated parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 400 degrees

Mix the ground beef and pork with the bread crumbs, and all seasonings until evenly blended. Add
Parmesan cheese and egg and mix until blended.

Form meat mixture into 1 ½ inch meatballs. If mixture is not wet enough add up to ¾ cup of warm water.
Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes until there is no pink.

Blueberry BBQ Sauce

• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• ¼ cup chopped onion
• 1 garlic clove minced
• ½ cup blueberry preserves
• ½ cup fresh blueberries
• 1-2 jalapenos seeded and finely chopped
• ¼ cup ketchup
• ½ cup light beer
• 1 tbsp. steak sauce
• 1 tsp. chili powder

Heat oil in a medium sauce pan. Add onion and garlic, sauté until tender. Add blueberry preserves, blueberries, jalapeno, ketchup, beer, steak sauce, and chili powder. Bring to a gentle boil, reduce heat to simmer for 10 minutes.

• (4) 8 ounce salmon fillets
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh minced garlic
• salt and pepper

1. Wash your salmon and pat dry with paper towels.
2. In a small bowl whisk together olive oil, lemon zest and garlic.
3. Coat the salmon with the olive oil mixture and let marinate for 15 minutes.
4. Heat grill to a medium heat.
5. Oil your grill with vegetable oil. This can be accomplished by gently (do not use a lot of oil) brushing grates with oil.
6. Gently place your fillets on the grill and add salt and pepper.
7. Let the salmon cook for four to five minutes per side.

To flip your salmon, use a fish spatula or a regular spatula. Gently slide the spatula underneath the fish, making sure the entire fish is on the spatula before gently flipping the fish over. Touching or pressing on the fish during the cooking process will make the fish fall apart or cook unevenly, so it is best to leave the fish untouched as much as possible during the cooking process.

To liven up your salmon, you can always try marinating it overnight in an Asian dressing with a touch of brown sugar and whiskey, then grill it.

If you’re in the mood for a night out, come try one of our dinner menu specialties, Whiskey River Salmon.

If you are a grill master or a grill dud, here are a few hints to making a great steak.

The first thing we recommend is buying a quality steak when possible. Another thing to try is to marinate the steak first in Italian dressing or something similar for at least 30 minutes before grilling. Next, we recommend when grilling at home is to bring your steak to room temperature before cooking, if your steak is refrigerated, you should bring it out 15 to 20 minutes before grilling.

While your meat is warming up, warm up your grill. We recommend a hot grill at least 400 degrees. Once your grill is hot, make sure you season the grill with a piece of fat or vegetable oil. This will help your steak from sticking to the grill or picking up left over flavor from the last time you used it. Place your meat on the grill, and lightly butter the meat and season it. Don’t be dainty with your seasoning, make it stick. We like a combination of salt, pepper, garlic and hickory or mesquite seasoning to add a little smokey flavor to your meat. You should season your meat even if you marinated it. Try to pick seasoning that accentuates your marinade.

Once the meat is grilling don’t mess with it, you should only turn your meat once. If you like grill marks on your meat, half way through cooking per side rotate your meat one quarter turn. If you touch your meat, press it or turn it repeatedly, it will not cook evenly and you will lose the flavorful juice in it.

The toughest part is trying to figure out when your steak is done. We do our steaks by touch, we gently press the meat with tongs or a spatula, we do not recommend a fork because you will pierce the meat. The firmer the meat feels, the more done it is. We recommend for a normal thickness on a steak (1-2 inches) to grill on each side for at least 3 minutes. A thicker steak will take longer, if you are cooking a baseball cut of meat (3 or more inches) your steak will take at least 15 to 20 minutes to cook.

Once your steak is done, take it off the grill. Do not use the grill to keep your meat warm; your steak will continue to cook and dry out, even at a low temperature. The best thing to do is to pull it off the grill, let it rest for a minute or two(not to long, a cold steak is not good) and eat. If you do have to hold the meat, we recommend gently wrapping it in aluminum foil and keep it away from any heat source. Good luck, we hope these tips helped. Happy grilling!