Tri-Tip & Chimichurri with Celery & Golden Potato Purée

Recipe by Chef Amanda DeLaura

A tri tip roast is cut from the bottom sirloin section of a cow and commonly known as a California or Santa Maria steak. It’s cheap, flavorful and really tender due to its beautiful marbling. If your butcher has kept some of the fat on the top of the cut, leave it for the sake of flavor and texture as it will render nicely while cooking in your cast iron skillet. This particular dish is my summer version of a winter pot roast and potatoes. It pairs superbly with a bright, fresh and crisp salad — something along the lines of baby greens, chopped cucumbers, ripened tomatoes, cut orange wedges and fennel. Happy cooking and bon appétit!

Makes 4 to 6 servings 

Ingredients:

20 g fresh basil, minced

20 g fresh parsley, minced

10 g fresh chives, minced

100 g extra virgin olive oil (about 1/2 cup)

50 g white wine vinegar (about scant of a 1/4 cup)

3 cloves garlic, minced or grated

1 tsp raw honey, optional zest from

1/2 lemon

salt and pepper, to taste

1 organic grass-fed bottom sirloin steak (tri-tip), about 2lbs

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

generous amounts of salt and pepper, to taste

3 golden potatoes, quartered

6 small stalks of celery, thinly chopped

2 leeks, thinly chopped

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp butter

salt, to taste

reserved potato water, about 1/2 cup

Directions:

1. Remove your steak from the fridge and let sit on the counter for at least thirty minutes or until it comes to room temperature.
2. Preheat the oven to 400ºF and bring a large pot of water to

3. Combine the basil, parsley, chives, olive oil, white wine vinegar, garlic, honey, lemon zest, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Taste, adjust salt as needed and set aside.
4. Pat the tri-tip dry with a paper towel and rub all sides of the steak generously with salt and pepper. Heat a large cast iron skillet (large enough to fit the entire steak) over medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Once shimmering, place your tri-tip steak into the skillet, top side down. Cook for 5 minutes and then flip. Continue to cook for 2 minutes. If the meat begins to burn or smoke, slightly reduce the heat. Place the cast iron skillet in the oven and bake for 15 to 25 minutes, depending on size of tri tip and desired internal temperature (I like mine medium rare, about 140ºF).
5. Meanwhile add the potatoes to the boiling water and cook for 20 minutes, until pierced easily with a fork. In a separate small sauté pan, heat 2 additional tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat and add the celery and leeks. Season generously with salt and continue to cook on high heat for about 30 to 60 Once the leeks sweat, reduce the heat to medium and sauté for 7 minutes, until the celery is softened and the leeks are beginning to caramelize. Turn off the heat and set aside.
6. Once the potatoes are tender, reserve about 1/2 cup of potato water and drain the potatoes through a colander. Add the potatoes, celery and leeks to a food processor as well as the 2 tablespoons of butter and about 1/4 cup of reserved potato water. Process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper and add more potato water if the mixture is too Cover and set aside. (Be sure to not over-process the potatoes as they will become very gummy and almost glue-like if too thick.)
7. Once the steak has reached your desired internal temperature, remove it from the oven, let it sit for 5 minutes and then thinly slice the whole thing. Transfer the potato-celery-leek mixture onto the middle of a large platter, creating a well in the center. Place the steak over the puree and top with the prepared chimichurri. Enjoy immediately.