a perfect (and cheap) roast for two: beef tri-tip

5/1/2013

If one or two skint people fancy a roast, they could be forgiven for assuming that beef is not an option; and, certainly, a hulking great joint of rib of beef (at £20 plus per kilo) is out of the question. In the past I've opted for a small joint of either rolled topside or silverside if I can get a small enough cut. From now on though, this will be my choice.

In September of last year Peckham got a wonderful new butchery - Flock & Herd. The owner is Charlie Shaw - who formerly worked at Mettricks of Glossop, Drings of Greenwich and the Ginger Pig. A few weeks back, he introduced me to tri-tip - which I'd never had before. An expertly trimmed cut cost me just £6.07 for approximately 800g.

What in the wide, wide world of butchery, I hear you cry as one, is tri-tip? Well, to quote another alumnus of The Ginger Pig, Nathan Mills of The Butchery Ltd:

The tri-tip is an extension of the point end of the rump and is not to be confused with the picanha, which is the cap of the rump and connects with the silverside. Instead this muscle runs from the point of the rump and up and over the knee. In the States [it is] commonly called the sirloin fillet due to its tenderness. The tri-tip has similar flavours and characteristics to rump, but loads more marbling running through it which helps to keep the meat succulent in cooking.

From what I can gather (i.e. from a brief search on Google) it's more commonly known in America than in Britain. Well now, in this matter at least, Peckham is twinned with the good ol' U.S. of Stateside. For the rest of the U.K., ask your local butchers and see if they know of the cut and, more importantly, know how to prepare it.

roast tri-tip

If my meat thermometer wasn't bollixed (stuck drawer/angry wrenching/ crunch of metal and glass), I'd have used it and taken the joint out when it had reached 60C. But it was, so I used these timings to get the result pictured above.

serves two
1 x 800g (approx) tri-tip
salt + black pepper

Take the beef out of the fridge, season well, and leave for an hour to come to room temperature. Heat a griddle pan to searing. Lay the tri-tip fat side down on the griddle and leave for a minute or two to colour. Flip it over and sear the underside for a minute. Transfer to a small roasting tin and roast at 220C/200C fan for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven, cover loosely with tin foil and rest for ten minutes.

Flock & Herd
155 Bellenden Road
London
SE15 4DH
T: 020 76357733
Tue– Fri: 9:00 to 18:00
Sat: 8:00 to 16:00
Sun & Mon: Closed

13 Comments

Alicia (foodycat) link

5/1/2013 07:16:27

That's amazing value! I'll have to look out for it.

Chas

5/1/2013 07:58:29

That looks to be a brilliant small roasting joint, much better that topside/silverside or even rolled rib. When they get below a kilo in size they're difficult to 'roast'.
Begs the question where that cut usually ends up in most butchers, steak mince? Or is it left as part of the rump for steaks?

The Skint Foodie

5/1/2013 09:13:15

Not sure. Mince, I'd guess.

Kavey link

5/1/2013 08:10:55

I only recently learned about the picanha cut from The Ginger Pig, good to know about this one too. Thanks

5/1/2013 09:14:30

I'll now have to try picanha next! It's a voyage of discovery, this food malarkey, eh?

Tessa Stuart

5/1/2013 08:12:09

Thank you so much for this - with The Ginger Pig in W12, I am hopeful I'll be easily able to have a go at an affordable joint (the other sort is freely available in da 'hood.)

Sam Hill link

5/1/2013 08:34:38

Will definitely have to pick some of this up. It's very popular in the US I believe.
The ageing and fat on that piece you have look fantastic.

Robin Betts

5/1/2013 14:17:30

Great tip. Never heard of this one. I look forward to hearing what my butcher has to say about it. That's a really hot roast.. maybe because it's so thin? Almost like grilling a steak.

6/1/2013 02:30:32

Exactly Robin - a kind of roast steak.

Obelia

5/1/2013 16:10:48

Brilliant! as American as chocolate chip biscuits and Mom's apple tart :) Will see if we can get hold of this up north, would be perfect for me & my other half.

NickyB

26/1/2013 14:25:12

This was fab, thanks for the advice on twitter and for the pointer to tri-tip on here. Your blog is consistently excellent

Anna Johnson

3/2/2013 21:46:37

I (knowingly) ate tritip for the first time at an end of year board dinner just before Christmas. It was seved with pumpkin, caramelised walnuts and a maple syrup jus. Sounds weird, but it was awesome, and the beef was very tender with heaps of flavour. I will need to chat to my butcher about it and see if they'd cut some for me to try at home! Thanks for the reminder :-)

Victoria

4/11/2013 06:33:25

Looks crazy tasty! Unfortunately, whilst I will only eat beef if it's red and juicy like the picture, The Boyf prefers his closer to the colour of pavement, so I doubt we'd come to an agreement on this one :(

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