Do it for Dad! Steal this Texas barbecue recipe

Phil Lempert TODAY Food Editor • Profile • E-mail

In this special weekly feature, “Today” food editor Phil Lempert brings you recipes “stolen” (with permission) from notable restaurants across America.  See how much money you can save — and fun you can have — by cooking these dishes at home!

THIS WEEK: Smoked Beef Tri-Tip and Texas BBQ Sauce, from Austin’s Restaurant, Mountain View, Calif.

With Father’s Day just around the corner, here’s a great barbecue dish for Dad to tackle — or, even better, for loved ones to cook for him — whether it be out camping, on a picnic, on the beach or just in your own backyard.

This Texas-style recipe comes from Austin’s Restaurant, a Mountain View, Calif., eatery famous for its classic barbecue meat dishes. (Mountain View is just south of San Francisco, near the famed Silicon Valley.)

About the chef:
Victor Paez discovered his love for cooking when he spent a summer at age 12 with his uncle, who at that time was the executive chef on the Queen Mary in Long Beach, Calif.

After apprenticing for some local chefs in the Bay Area, he eventually joined chef Dana Clark at Bourbon Street in Mountain View, where he learned the ways of the Cajun-Creole cuisine of New Orleans.  He later worked with Jacky Robert at Ernie’s, a noted restaurant in San Francisco. 

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In 1981 he enrolled at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco and was soon hired at Michael’s in Sunnyvale under chef Al Saarne.  After that he moved on to manage Nicolino’s in Sunnyvale for 13 years, and finally landed at Austin’s in 2004.

(PLEASE NOTE: Ingredient prices are estimates and based on national averages. Amounts listed are for one portion. Increase proportionately according to number of portions desired.)

Smoked Beef Tri-Tip and Texas BBQ Sauce
($10.95 with choice of side dish at Austin’s; cook-at-home cost is $4.81.)

4 tablespoons paprika ($0.02)
2 tablespoons chili powder ($0.04)
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper ($0.06)
1 tablespoon garlic powder ($0.08)
1 tablespoon ground ginger ($0.06)
1 tablespoon dry mustard ($0.03)
2 tablespoons kosher salt ($0.01)
2 tablespoons fresh ground pepper ($0.01)
1 tri-tip roast (1.5-2.5 pounds) ($2.85)

Jeff Tang Photography / Austin's Restaurant

Sift the first six ingredients together. Then combine them with the salt and pepper and mix well. Use the spice rub to coat all sides liberally.  Letting the meat sit briefly at room temperature is fine; it will allow the spice rub to penetrate the fabric of the meat much better. (The tri-tip is a lean, boneless, economical cut of meat taken from the bottom sirloin of the cow. The tri-tip roast is also called a triangle roast. It has great texture and flavor and tends to be lower in fat than most other cuts of beef. Ordering from a butcher is the best way to obtain the proper cut. Beef brisket can be used as a substitute; if cooking brisket, lengthen smoking time [up to 8 hours for a 10-pound piece].)

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