Tri-Tip with Marinated Cucumbers & Tallow Cooked Potatoes

By: Hugh Acheson

We like a lot of things about Chef Hugh Acheson, but we really love how he created a complete menu that features our American Wagyu tri-tip. We'll let Hugh take it from here:

I love tri tip and when it is American Kobe then it just gets better. The cadence of this meal should be as follows:

  • Prep in the morning.
  • It’s Saturday, so next watch some sports.
  • In the mid-afternoon get the cucumbers all prepped up and finished. Put them in the fridge until really to use.
  • About 1½ hours before eating, cut the potatoes and get them soaking in the salt water.
  • After they’ve done an hour soak, get the potatoes well drained and cooking.
  • While the potatoes roast, begin the beef.
  • Finish the beef, rest it really well, and then carve and plate.
  • Eat!

Ingredients

Tri-Tip

  • 1 1/4 pound SRF Black Label™ tri tip (trimmed) Buy Now
  • ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Tallow Cooked Potatoes

  • 1 pound small gold potatoes (smaller than a golf ball)
  • 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
  • ½ cup tallow

Marinated Cucumbers

  • 1 cup unseasoned rice wine vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 English cucumber, cut into 1/2-inch dice
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive
  • 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, chopped
  • freshly ground pepper to taste

Tri-Tip

The entire tri-tip weighs about 2 ½ pounds, but we are just going to use half of it. So take the whole thing, cut it in half lengthwise to make it look like two smaller tenderloins. We’ll be using one so the other one can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and then in foil and placed in the fridge or in the freezer for later use.
Place a large, ovenproof frypan on the stove and heat over medium-high heat.
Season the tri-tip with the salt all over and then pat dry as best as possible with a paper towel. Add the oil to the pan then place the tri-tip in the pan. Cook for 3 minutes on each of its three sides. Add the butter to the pan and baste well.
Place the tri-tip in the oven for about 20 minutes or until the interior temperature reaches 120° for medium-rare. Remove the beef from the pan and let it rest for five minutes on a cooking sheet pan.
Slice the tri-tip into 1/4-inch slices. Arrange the beef slices on a platter and dot with the potatoes.
Drain the cucumbers and scatter over the top. Serve.

Tallow Cooked Potatoes

Wash the potatoes well and cut each in half. Put them in a bowl and cover them with cold water. Add the salt, mix well and place in the fridge for 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Drain the potatoes really well and then lay them on a couple of sheets of paper towel to leach them of any more water.
Place a heavy cast iron skillet on the stove and heat it over medium-high heat.
Add the beef tallow and let it heat up for a minute and then add the potatoes, adjusting all of them so the cut sides are all down.
Lower the heat to medium and let them mellow out for about 4 minutes and then transfer them into the oven.
Roast until very tender, about 25-30 minutes.

Marinated Cucumbers

Combine the rice vinegar, salt and sugar in a small pot and place the over medium-high heat.
Bring the vinegar mixture to a boil and then turn down to a simmer.
Put the cut cucumbers in a bowl and pour the vinegar over. Let it sit for 30 minutes.
Add the olive oil, mint leaves and some freshly ground black pepper. Stir well and place in the refrigerator until ready for use.