Tri Tip and Chimichurri

SciAggie

We had a couple over to celebrate my birthday and the 4th of July. We haven’t seen these dear friends since Christmas due to the pandemic. Because of that I wanted to put in a little extra effort for dinner. 

The menu was toasted shishito peppers for appetizers.

For the main course we had zucchini carpaccio salad, tri tip with chimichurri, green chili and hominy, and roasted potatoes.
For dessert my wife made a fruit and pudding dessert that’s light and refreshing.
Wine and beer was involved.

So the meal has to start the day before by nixtamilizing the corn for the hominy. This was blue corn from Masienda. This is the dried corn before nixtamilization.

After simmering in the calcium hydroxide solution for 40 minutes I turned off the heat and then it sat on the stove covered for 12 hours. Then it looked like this.

After that you rinse the corn, rubbing off the loosened pericarp. I added fresh water and then simmered the corn (like cooking dried beans) until it had swollen and become tender. 

After the hominy was done I put the tri tip in the sous vide bath for a 7 hour swim. 

Then I made the chimichurri sauce. I wanted to do it ahead so the flavors could combine. I enjoy making this kind of thing by hand. 

With the advance prep done we just waited for our friends to arrive. Had to light the oven.


We had the roasted shishitos for appetizer. This pick was from a previous cook because I forgot to take a picture. 

I roasted the potatoes in the oven and heated up the green chili and hominy mixture. Didn’t get pics of that process because friends and drinking...

My buddy had never heard of cooking anything caveman, so I fixed that problem... Dinner is on topic because we cooked on the egg.

I cut the steak and served it on a board made by one of my teacher friends.

This meal was good if I do say so. The green chili and hominy is really good. 

This is my wife’s dessert.

I hope all of my friends here on the forum have a fantastic holiday weekend. Stay safe. Stay healthy. Thanks for looking. I’ll share any details of the cook if someone is interested.

johnmitchell

Happy Birthday and 4th. Your contributions to the forum are beyond words.Great post and cook.

northGAcock

.....a little extra effort. This is your normal. Carry on my friend and again, happy Burfday. 

SciAggie

@johnmitchell Thanks for the kind words. Have a great holiday. 

@northGAcock Thank you kindly. Have a great weekend with those you love. 

Mattman3969

Way to get it done @SciAggie

FarmingPhD

Happy birthday and thanks for sharing the end product as well as the process.  

SciAggie

@Mattman3969 @FarmingPhD Thanks y’all. Have a great weekend. 

Wolfpack

Tell me more about that zucchini carpaccio?

sounds really interesting 

the meal looks outstanding as per your usual. 

1voyager

What a feast! Happy Birthday.

SciAggie

@Wolfpack Slice your zucchini as thinly as possible. Put it in a colander and salt it generously as you would eggplant. Let it drain for 30 minutes. It will expel a lot of water. Then dry it well on paper towels. Layer the slices in a casserole dish (9x13 maybe). Put some thinly sliced garlic between the slices and add some lemon juice. For this dish I used three zucchini, three cloves garlic, and one lemon. 

You can refrigerate this for a couple of hours before serving. When you’re ready to serve arrange the slices on a dish. Add a few toasted pine nuts, a few drops of honey, a drizzle of olive oil, and some shaved Parmesan cheese. 

SciAggie

@1voyager Thanks!

caliking

Firstly, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! 

Then... oh. My. God. 

Excellence, start to finish. Bookmarked, because there’s a lot of stupendous grub here, and I likely want to take a crack at each of the items. The zuke carpaccio has been on my mind since you posted it earlier, so will probably try that soon. 

The time and effort taken to prep this meal says much about your regard for these friends. They’re lucky

SciAggie

Thanks @caliking These are indeed good friends. I’ll text you a screenshot from the cookbook if you want - I just hate sharing copyrighted material openly on a public forum. I haven’t found the exact recipes from Perini anywhere online. 

caliking

I enjoy cookbooks, and if that's the type of fare in it, may be well worth the purchase. 

can you post a pic of the cover?

GATraveller

Happiest of birthdays to you and another award winning meal. Thanks for sharing! 

SciAggie

I got is as a birthday gift. I have his first cookbook as well. I think I may actually like this one better. 

The chimichurri isn’t in it, but that’s an easy enough recipe to figure out. 

SciAggie

@GATraveller Thanks!

lkapigian

Excellent @SciAggie

SciAggie

@lkapigian Thanks. Eventually.... I will have charcuterie for my guests... #lifegoals

caliking

Thanks, @SciAggie. It’s in the Amazon cart

JohnInCarolina

This thread is everything I’d hoped it would be and a lot more!  What an amazing cook and meal.  Beautiful.

lousubcap

I don't know where to start.  Off the chart and totally impressive across the board.  Magazine quality pics and documentation as always.  What skills.
And a side bump for going caveman.  One convert at a time!  
Happy Birthday USA and a belated one to you.  

SciAggie

@JohnInCarolina Thanks! Have a great weekend. 

@lousubcap “One convert at a time!” That’s good. Yeas the crust was great on the meat and the entertainment value watching my friends face was priceless. 

StillH2OEgger

SciAggie said:

We had a couple over to celebrate my birthday and the 4th of July. We haven’t seen these dear friends since Christmas due to the pandemic. Because of that I wanted to put in a little extra effort for dinner. 

The menu was toasted shishito peppers for appetizers.

For the main course we had zucchini carpaccio salad, tri tip with chimichurri, green chili and hominy, and roasted potatoes.
For dessert my wife made a fruit and pudding dessert that’s light and refreshing.
Wine and beer was involved.

I worry about the sanity of anyone who would turn down a dinner invitation to your place. That looks tremendous. And happy birthday!

SciAggie

@StillH2OEgger Thanks! 

HendersonTRKing

Congrats on another trip around the Sun. And thanks for sharing part of your journey on the forum. Your posts always spread pleasure and inspiration — I recently did a Chimichurri tri and seeing yours, learning from it, finding some new stuff in your posts, always is a real treat. 

SciAggie

@HendersonTRKing Thanks for the kind words. Like you, I learn so much from this community. Like so many others here I just like to cook - and share what I’m doing with folks that like the same thing. When you post elsewhere people think you’re “showing off” or just fishing for “likes”. I think the truth for most of us is we just enjoy food and cooking and like seeing what other folks are cooking. Happy 4th!

CPARKTX2

Fantastic cook and great photos

ColbyLang

@SciAggie, what’s in the chimichurri? Find all kindsa varieties online. Also, happy birthday! 

SciAggie

@ColbyLang Two cloves of garlic pounded into a paste with some coarse sea salt. Then a bit of finely chopped onion - maybe 1/2 a small onion. I minced a small red jalapeño.  One bunch of parsley chopped up - then muddled a bit in the mortar. I threw in a handful of basil and some fresh oregano because I have it (chopped up of course. Then I added juice of 1/2 a lemon, 2 Tbsp or so of red wine vinegar, and about a 1/4 of olive oil. A bit of black pepper too.  Chimichurri is a very fluid recipe - make it kind of like salsa - with whatever you have and whatever you like.  

ColbyLang

SciAggie said:

@ColbyLang Two cloves of garlic pounded into a paste with some coarse sea salt. Then a bit of finely chopped onion - maybe 1/2 a small onion. I minced a small red jalapeño.  One bunch of parsley chopped up - then muddled a bit in the mortar. I threw in a handful of basil and some fresh oregano because I have it (chopped up of course. Then I added juice of 1/2 a lemon, 2 Tbsp or so of red wine vinegar, and about a 1/4 of olive oil. A bit of black pepper too.  Chimichurri is a very fluid recipe - make it kind of like salsa - with whatever you have and whatever you like.  

Thank you sir. Your meal looked delicious