Cooking in Poverty Twelve: What I Did On Halloween.
Oh, Halloween! A night of partying! A night of unholy passion! A night of pumpkins and shit!
Unless you're me. Then, you cook. And make a delicious...
...tri-tip beef roast. And I'm not lying. That's what I did on Halloween.
And it isn't even Halloween-y. It's Italianish. And Southernish. Not not at all Halloween-y.
But for the hell of it, I'm calling it "Spookingly Good TERRIFYING Italian Pulled Beef. OF HORROR."
Flows off the tip of the tongue, does it not?
As usual, we begin with ingredients.
Hardware: We need a roastin' dish. Preferably one with a lid. I got this little beaut from Goodwill. You could use a lidless one and aluminum foil, if you so choose. We also need a knnnnife, briefly, and tongs are helpful.
Software: First, the beef: I used about four pounds of tri-tip. You don't have to. You could be schmancy and use sirloin. But for this, tritip is cheaper. You will also need an Eye-talian dressing seasoning packet. Follow me on this one. And you need some hot sauce, some olive oil, and some of Your Favorite Seasonings™ (within reason, because this is Eye-talian country. If your favorite seasonings are cumin and saffron, they might not bode well with the seasoning packet). I used salt, pepper, garlic powder, and a little bit of red pepper flakes.
The first thing you need to do is stab your meat.
And turn it over and stab it some more. While listening to this. It is Halloween, after all.
Next, get a tablespoon or so of olive oil on your steak...
And rub the meat down. It's the least you can do after that brutal stabbing.
Then, apply your seasonings (use about half the dressing packet)...
...and the hot sauce...
And rub it some more!
Other side, lather, rinse, repeat.
Well, just the repeat part.
Throw it violently into your dish...
...cover it, and pop it in your oven. Cooking times vary. But I put this on at 450 degrees for about five hours, turning it every two and a half. You could go slow at 300 for seven our eight hours. Either way, babies.
You'll know it's done when simply looking at it will make it fall to pieces.
Told ya!
Now, get two forks and start shredding!
Ahh. Feel better? Now, you could be done here. You could. The spicy crust on the outside... Yum! But if you want to take it a step up, you could, I don't know...
...forget store-bought and make your own sauce. All you need to do is put the roasting dish on your burner, deglaze the pan with some red wine vinegar, add a small can of tomato sauce, add the same spices you used to coat the meat, and let it reduce by half.
Maybe.
Oh fuck yes.
Put that saucy little... sauce... in a dish...
Make some home fries, get some toast, make a little open-faced sandwich, and throw on some of your sauce.
And eat until you pass out.
It's so worth it.
And the best thing is that this is more of a technique than a flat-out recipe. Italian not your thing? Use an Asian seasoning packet, some ginger, some 5-seasoning spice... The beef is your oyster! Well, it's your beef. But you get the gist.
Unless you're me. Then, you cook. And make a delicious...
...tri-tip beef roast. And I'm not lying. That's what I did on Halloween.
And it isn't even Halloween-y. It's Italianish. And Southernish. Not not at all Halloween-y.
But for the hell of it, I'm calling it "Spookingly Good TERRIFYING Italian Pulled Beef. OF HORROR."
Flows off the tip of the tongue, does it not?
As usual, we begin with ingredients.
Hardware: We need a roastin' dish. Preferably one with a lid. I got this little beaut from Goodwill. You could use a lidless one and aluminum foil, if you so choose. We also need a knnnnife, briefly, and tongs are helpful.
Software: First, the beef: I used about four pounds of tri-tip. You don't have to. You could be schmancy and use sirloin. But for this, tritip is cheaper. You will also need an Eye-talian dressing seasoning packet. Follow me on this one. And you need some hot sauce, some olive oil, and some of Your Favorite Seasonings™ (within reason, because this is Eye-talian country. If your favorite seasonings are cumin and saffron, they might not bode well with the seasoning packet). I used salt, pepper, garlic powder, and a little bit of red pepper flakes.
The first thing you need to do is stab your meat.
And turn it over and stab it some more. While listening to this. It is Halloween, after all.
Next, get a tablespoon or so of olive oil on your steak...
And rub the meat down. It's the least you can do after that brutal stabbing.
Then, apply your seasonings (use about half the dressing packet)...
...and the hot sauce...
And rub it some more!
Other side, lather, rinse, repeat.
Well, just the repeat part.
Throw it violently into your dish...
...cover it, and pop it in your oven. Cooking times vary. But I put this on at 450 degrees for about five hours, turning it every two and a half. You could go slow at 300 for seven our eight hours. Either way, babies.
You'll know it's done when simply looking at it will make it fall to pieces.
Told ya!
Now, get two forks and start shredding!
Ahh. Feel better? Now, you could be done here. You could. The spicy crust on the outside... Yum! But if you want to take it a step up, you could, I don't know...
...forget store-bought and make your own sauce. All you need to do is put the roasting dish on your burner, deglaze the pan with some red wine vinegar, add a small can of tomato sauce, add the same spices you used to coat the meat, and let it reduce by half.
Maybe.
Oh fuck yes.
Put that saucy little... sauce... in a dish...
Make some home fries, get some toast, make a little open-faced sandwich, and throw on some of your sauce.
And eat until you pass out.
It's so worth it.
And the best thing is that this is more of a technique than a flat-out recipe. Italian not your thing? Use an Asian seasoning packet, some ginger, some 5-seasoning spice... The beef is your oyster! Well, it's your beef. But you get the gist.