Tri Tip BBQ on Guam for Two!!

I originally hail from Santa Maria, California. Some of you may know Santa Maria as the home of "Santa Maria Style BBQ". We do a lot of prime rib and Tri-Tip there. Well, though I live on Guam, I still have to have my Tri Tip.

For those of you who do not know what the beef tri tip cut is, here are a few links about tri tip and Santa Maria Style BBQ:

What is a tri tip? http://www.iwing.org/tritip.htm

Origin of tri tip: http://www.santamariaelks.com/history/tritip.html

Santa Maria Style BBQ: http://santamariavalleybbq.com/, http://lospadrescounty.net/et/smbbq.html

We love tri tip and the weather has been so gorgeous lately that I suggested to Lupe, my wife of 35 yrs., that we BBQ the tri tip in the freezer. She was all for that. So my original menu plan was BBQ'd tri tip, homemade chili with sirloin chunks, macaroni salad, BBQ'd red potato slices and octopus kelaguen (same concept as ceviche). So we were going Cowboy all the way with a little island flair thrown in. After all we are on a tropical island. However Lupe cancelled the octopus because we still had fish kelaguen to eat. Not a problem.

So here are a few pics of our Sunday evening.....

We had a beautiful Guam evening. Seems to be a lot of those here!!

I have 3 pits set up in different areas of my property so that I don't have to keep moving them around. This is an old gas BBQ grill that I modified for wood and charcoal. Works great. This area is by my greenhouse on one of the upper levels of my property. My property is terraced into 3 levels. Lighting was by Tiki torch and candlelight mostly.

The beef tri tip seasoned and ready for the grill. The backside is the fat layer.

Tri tip on the grill in the spotlight!!!

It is getting there. Not too much longer. Tri tip is typically a 45 minute grill time.

I sliced a few pieces off because Lupe likes her beef well done. Will it dry out? We shall see...

Well, does it look dry to you? Now I know that there are a lot of folks that tell you don't use a fork to turn meat with because it will allow all the juices to escape and dry out your meat. But again, what do you think?

Here are the meat and potatoes. Red potatoes are all we use. A whole lot sweeter than Russet. Great flavor. The chili is on the grill in a pot and the rest, well it's all on the table. 

Macaroni salad by candlelight. Hey, I am with my wife and I like to have a romantic dinner, even if we are in the middle of our garden.

Tri tip is cut up into small pieces ready for me. Lupe's meat is on the right side next to the potatoes.

Well, we had a great candlelight dinner under the stars here on Guam......again!!!!!

That's what I call Tri Tip BBQ for Two on Guam!

Until the next time....

Beef Shish Kebab

I had this 3 inch Rib Eye steak that had been staring at me for a couple of weeks now. I had already BBQ'd it's twin along with my wife Lupe's T-Bone steak a few weeks before. So it was only right that I allow this piece of meat to join the party!!! What to do.......slice it up and grill it shish kebab style.

Now some of you are probably asking why am I going to ruin a 3 inch thick Ribeye Steak by slicing it up for shish kebab? Well I just wanted to grill something I haven't eaten in a while and why not a super delicious and tender cut like a Ribeye? After all, it was going to be eaten one way or another so when it comes right down to it, what's the difference? Well that was my reasoning and I'm sticking to it!!! 

So here is what I did:

First of all I trimmed the fat off of the Rib Eye.

Then I cut 1/4 inch by about 3 inch pieces slicing across the grain to aid the tenderness of the meat.

Next step was to prepare the marinade.

1 cup Kikkoman Soy Sauce

1/2 cup sugar

A 2-inch piece of ginger, peeled and thinly sliced

4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced.

I combined these ingredients into a saucepan and brought them all to a boil. This not only blends all the flavors but dissolves the sugar a lot easier.

I then added the beef cuts to this mixture and allowed this to marinade in the refer about 6 hours.

I skewer the meat just prior to putting them on the grill. 

All skewered and resting in the leftover marinade until the fire is just right.

You want a hot fire for kebab grilling so that all the juices are locked in by searing.

Kebabs getting their grill on!!!

Beef Shish Kebabs ready for the table...

The grilling took maybe about 4-5 minutes per side. They were juicy and very tender. They were served with white rice, buttered spinach and one of my favs, cream corn. Though the spinach and cream corn are not traditional sides dishes they all went well together for us. Again, something different.

Lupe and I had a great dinner on this beautiful Sunday evening on Guam.

Next up.....Pork Kebabs!!

Until next time....