© 2018 by Rob Firing
SERVES 4 TO 6
My neighbour has an enormous cherry tree in his back yard. It is so large that he regularly prunes substantial limbs from it and then drops off cherry wood at my house, which I gratefully accept and use to give extra flavour to my food when I’m grilling or smoking. This also means I get the occasional cherry harvest from him, either already in a mason jar full of rum, waiting to be opened and enjoyed come December, or just a bagful of cherries. When that happens, I use some of them to make what I think is a knock-down good barbecue sauce, which is terrific on ribs, brisket, and tri-tip—especially brined tri-tip.
4 CUPS WATER
4 TABLESPOONS CELTIC-STYLE SEA SALT OR NATURAL ROCK SALT
1 WHOLE TRI-TIP STEAK (2 TO 2 1/2 POUNDS)
2 POUNDS CHERRIES, PITTED (SEE TIP)
1/4 CUP WATER
1/2 TEASPOON GROUND NUTMEG
1/4 TEASPOON GROUND CINNAMON
3/4 CUP LIQUID HONEY
JUICE OF 1/4 LEMON
PINCH OF SALT, OR TO TASTE
MAKE THE QUICK BRINE: In a large bowl or baking dish, dissolve salt in water. Add your whole tri-tip steak, making sure it is fully submerged (if not, make another small batch of salt-water brine). Cover and let sit at room temperature for at least 1 hour.
MEANWHILE, in a saucepan over medium-low heat, combine cherries, water, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Simmer until cherries have completely lost their shape and the sauce begins to thicken. Add honey and continue to simmer, reducing the heat as necessary when the thick sauce starts to splutter. Add lemon juice and salt. Taste and adjust seasonings until you have a sauce that you adore. Using an immersion blender, purée mixture until smooth (alternatively, you can push the sauce through a fine-mesh sieve using the back of a spoon). The whole process should take about 25 minutes.
PREPARE YOUR CHARCOAL GRILL to one-third cooler than peak heat, or heat your gas grill to medium-high (preheated on High for 10 minutes, lid closed). This is a thick steak that will ball up and get thicker as you cook it, so with long barbecue tongs or a grill rake, move the coals as much as you can to one side of the grill, leaving the other side less hot and partially out of direct heat. For gas grills, simply turn off one side of the grill.
SMOTHER YOUR TRI-TIP in cherry sauce, reserving 1/2 cup, and grill on the hotter side, waiting until the steak releases its grip on the grill before turning it. Do this again for the second side, then move it to the cooler side of the grill and close the lid.
CHECK YOUR TRI-TIP every 4 minutes, and remove from heat as it reaches 120°F (this is a lean steak, and not sufficiently engorged to stay juicy much after that). Slather more sauce on the steak, then let steak rest very loosely wrapped in foil for 10 minutes.
SLICE YOUR STEAK across the grain and serve with a side of sauce mixed with foil juices.
TIP: Wondering if you can use canned cherries? You certainly can. Just make sure you use the juice for the sauce too, cooking it down exactly as you would with fresh cherries.
SMOKE IT UP!
For an amazing extra punch of cherry smoke, soak bits of cherry wood in water for half an hour, then toss them on your hot coals when you close the barbecue lid. For gas grills, wrap the wood in aluminum foil, puncture it in a few places so smoke can escape, and place the pouch directly on the heating plate or a very hot part of the grill until it begins to smoke, then close the hood. You can buy cherry wood pellets at better barbecue retailers (or use your own wood chips or twigs, if you have them). The smoke won’t last long, but a little goes a long way.