What do you do when your wife wants to make Yorkshire pudding? Find a nice chunk of beef to go with it.
Recently, Mary Beth mentioned she found what looked like a simple recipe for making Yorkshire pudding (yum!), and wanted to try it.
Naturally, I checked out deals at local meat markets. I found a tri-tip cut of beef at Lenover’s and brought it home.
Mary Beth covered it in our coffee rub, and marinated it as well. It sat for more than 24 hours.
I put it on the Big Green Egg to cook on indirect heat. At 275 F, it really didn’t take very long to cook, perhaps 30 minutes tops, as it was just under three pounds.
I might have finished one beer while keeping tabs on the temperature of the meat and the barbecue.
We ate it with mashed potatoes, cauliflower, gravy and the aforementioned Yorkshire pudding.
It was delicious, but…
I made a rookie mistake.
I did not carve the tri-tip properly, making it less tender than it should have been.
You are schooled to cut meat against the grain. I didn’t bother to check the grain on the tri-tip, as it actually changes direction to some extent. If you take it and place it in front of you lengthwise, cutting vertically from there (like you do with most any other cut of beef), you will mess up about half the tri-tip.
And that’s what I did.
You have to locate the grain, and the change in the grain. Make your first cut at the point where the grain changes, cut up one half of the tri-tip and then spin the other half so you cut against the grain through it.
I cut the slices too thick as well. About half the meat was tender and excellent, while the other half was a tougher chew. The flavour was still there, however.
Would I get another tri-tip? Yes, but I would pay attention next time when I go to carve it.
And any time Mary Beth mentions Yorkshire pudding again, I’m running out to grab a hunk of beef!
Watching the freighters go by
We spent Saturday at a little slice of heaven. Susie and Marty, to whom we are related through my brother-in-law’s marriage (his wife and Susie are sisters, and all that is just too complicated for me to track in a more direct manner), live just outside of Port Lambton on the St. Clair River. They hosted a family gathering to belatedly celebrate the graduation of our daughter, Brenna, and one of my nephews, Matt.
We sat in the shade, enjoying the breeze and watching all the boat traffic.
I never get tired of such a view. The cabin cruisers and various cigarette boats are pretty darned cool, but seeing the huge freighters go by is just amazing to me.
Dinner was insane. Corn on the cob, several types of salad, and broasted chicken from The Black Goose in Wallaceburg.
I’ve been there for brunch and lunch in the past, but had never had the broasted chicken.
It was just plain awesome!
What a great afternoon and perfect dinner.
