Project Smoke

i

YIELD: Makes about 3 cups

us is the French word for meat juices. Start with high-quality low-

jsodium stock, preferably homemade.

i

! INGREDIENTS

Meat juices accumulated on the

cutting board

3 cups beef or chicken stock

into a serving bowl and keep

until serving. Pour any meat juices

that accumulate on the cutting board

into the stock and serve in a bowl for

ladling over the meat.

Place the stock in an aluminum foil warm

drip pan next to the prime rib in

the smoker. Smoke the stock while

you smoke the prime rib. (Added

advantage—the steaming stock keeps

the prime rib moist.) Strain the stock

SMOKED TRI-TIP

f you live in Southern California, you’ve probably grilled tri-tip. If you YIELD:^ Serves^4 to^6

live east of the Mississippi, you may never have seen this cut in your

local supermarket. An elongated triangle-shaped muscle, tri-tip comes

from the bottom end of the sirloin primal and weighs IV2 to 2V2 pounds.

Tradition calls for direct grilling tri-tip over an oak log fire, but I like to

use the reverse searing method (see box, page 83). You slow-smoke the tri-

of about 110°F, then let it rest. Just before

serving, you sear it over a hot fire to an internal temperature of about

125°F. This gives you rare smoky beef that slices like brisket but retains

the sanguine succulence of steak. It also gives you great flexibility in the

cooking time. Tri-tip belongs in your repertoire—even if you live on the

East Coast.

METHOD: Reverse searing

PREP TIME: 10 minutes.

SMOKING TIME: 1 hour ‘

GRILLING TIME: 4 to 6

minutes I

tip to an internal temperature

BEEF | 81