Tri-tip Sandwiches with homemade BBQ sauce

I loved grilled food. I think it is one of my favorite things to eat. There is something about the flavor that comes about when food is cooked on the grill. I bought a 5 pound tri-tip roast for less than 9.00. This is such an underrated cut of meat, but I would like to take a moment and personally thank cows for the delicious cut of meat known as tri-tip (for its triangular shape). Keep workin' it, Cows! I need and love your beef. :)

Now to the recipe- I got the rub recipe and the sauce recipe from Stephen Raichlen's book "BBQ USA." That should be underlined, but when I hit control U, something crazy pops up.

Tri-tip:
1 2-5 lb tri-tip
3 T seasoned salt
2 t paprika
2 t oregano
1 t fresh ground pepper

Place the seasonings in a small bowl and mix. Your fingers work the best for this, but you can just use a spoon. Pour the rub onto all sides of the meat. Let it cure in the fridge for at least 4 hours and up to three days. I did it for 8 hours, and it was divine.

While it is curing in the fridge, get the grill ready. Husbands are best at this. We did it over charcoal and we used mesquite wood chips. Our roast was about 5 pounds, and we cooked it for 20 minute per side. (That would be about 4 minutes per pound per side. That's a lot of pers.) So, if you had a 2 pound roast, you would cook it for 8 minutes per side. It came out perfectly for us. It was medium. Let it sit for about 10 minutes before carving.

We used our meat slicer and thinly cut the meat against the grain. Some people kind of chuckled when I told them I got a meat slicer for Christmas, but that thing sliced that meat to perfection. My husband said that this recipe made Lucille's look like McDonald's. I'm telling you... The flavor, and the thin cuts were amazing.

I toasted some hamburger buns, piled on the meat, slathered it with BBQ sauce (recipe below), and savored every bite. It was ridiculous! There was enough to feed 8 adults. That comes to 1.00 per person. Nice!

I served this with homemade macaroni and cheese, garlic mashed potatoes, and cornbread muffins.

BBQ sauce:
1 1/2 c ketchup
3 T white vinegar
2 T yellow mustard
2 T Worcestershire sauce
1 T lemon juice
1/2 onion, minced
1/2 c brown sugar
1 T chili powder
1/2 t garlic salt
1/2 t black pepper
1/2 t ginger
1/4 t cayenne pepper

Add all ingredients and simmer over medium heat until thick. if it is too thick for your liking, add a little bit of water until it reaches your desired consistency.

If you are buying bottled BBQ sauce, this is so much better! There is no high fructose corn syrup. If you look at the ingredients for store-bought BBQ sauce, nearly every one of them has corn syrup as the first ingredient. There is more of that than tomato-based ingredients. That is just wrong. I think homemade BBQ sauce is a million times better, and its easy to throw together while the meat is cooking on the grill.

Step out of your comfort and convenience zone and put some effort into making the homemade sauce.

I'm salivating just thinking about this dinner. It was so delicious. I hope your family enjoys it as much as mine did.