Sirloin Tri-Tip with a Cherry Salsa

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Here's a grilling treat that looks amazing, smells fabulous, has all the fresh hints of something really special.  Dare I say restaurant quality... You betcha!

Most interesting of all for this recipe is the inspirational blogger that provided the recipe probably has no idea that I lifted her recipe.

You see, Velva of TOMATOES ON THE VINE blog recently did a lovely post of... Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Cherry Salsa.  I just loved the idea for this, and will certainly be trying the salsa with the pork she recommended, but I just could not get the idea of a beautiful tri-tip sirloin out of my head when i looked over the recipe.  The marinade, the salsa is all Velva's.  I actually did not change a thing... except the pork became beef.

Oh, and her beautiful salsa of deep red cherries became yellow Rainier cherries with soft red accents.  Again, love Farmer's Markets where some wonderful unusual items show up.  Here's the 411 on these wonderful cherries...

Rainier

A very attractive, exceptionally large, yellow cherry with a bright red blush. Rainier has a distinctive and superior appearance among sweet cherry varieties. Delicately flavored with extraordinary sugar levels, the flesh is pure yellow, very firm and finely textured. A premium niche variety that ripens after Bing. 

OK... First up, let's make the Cherry Salsa...

1/2 lb. fresh cherries, stemmed, pitted, halved.
1/2 cup Cilantro
1/2 cup Shallots, minced
juice of fresh Lime
1 fresh  jalapeno thinly sliced crosswise
thinly sliced.
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Combine cilantro, 1/4 cup cup shallots, 2 tablespoons lime juice, cherries, chile, and olive oil in a medium bowl. Season salsa lightly with salt and pepper and set aside to let flavors to meld.

The recipe made enough to accent the steak, but also to serve as an additional side dish.  IT WAS DELICIOUS!

We let this sit for about 2 hours before we served.

Now to the meat...

A Tri Tip Sirloin is a wonderful piece of meat to serve to a crowd.  Usually almost three pounds, it is the muscle at the bottom of the sirloin portion of a cow.  It is triangular shape, thicker at one end than the thinner other.  Meaning, if you carefully monitor the temperature, the thick end is a nice beautiful PERFECT rare to medium rare.  The further down towards the tip you go, is cooked more, ending with a generous amount of meat that is cooked medium well.

Please, if you are at all uncertain, cook with a remote probe instant read meat thermometer.  I insert mone in the thick end and cooked this guy to just 140 degrees.

Slice against the grain to get the most tender slices.




Back to my roots, the title of my old blog was a Year on the Grill after all, so let's grill it.


But first the marinade.  Here's what we did...


1 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro, divided
1/2 cup minced shallots, divided
6 tablespoons fresh lime juice, divided
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 Tri Tip Sirloins, about 2-1/2 lb. total


Prepare a grill to medium-high heat. Combine 1/2 cup cilantro, 1/4 cup minced shallots, 4 tablespoons lime juice, and vegetable oil in resealable plastic bag. Add beef; seal bag and turn to coat. Marinate at room temperature for 1-2 hours, turning occasionally.

Remove steak from marinade and season generously with salt and pepper.

Grill beef, turning just once, until a thermometer inserted into thickest part of the meat registers 140 degrees, about 20-25 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes.

Cut into thin slices and serve with salsa.

With the unique bright yellow and red cherries, the green of the cilantro and pepper and the amazing look of a medium rare steak this is about the prettiest item I have ever made!