Smoke roasted tri tip empanadas (and then some)

I wasn't quite sure what to get for the upcoming week's meals, but a sale on tri tips got me fixated on some Mexican grub:




I marinated it in a vacuum sealed bag for 2 days in Goya Mojo Criollo and some V-8 juice. Little did I know that the juice, while merely passable for drinking, makes quite the decent marinade:



The tri tip was seasoned with a mix of salt, black pepper, onion, and garlic powder, then placed on the Egg with a batch of refried beans:



Red Oak was used for smoke:



Due to getting distracted, I missed the mark a bit, but this wasn't very important since I planned on frying the meat for a bit of caramelization:



The empanada dough was made earlier in the morning:


2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 large egg
1/3 cup ice water
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar

Next time I will add more butter to the mix.








After the dough chilled for several hours, some of it was used to roll out the dough for the empanada:



Onions were browned, followed by some diced tri tip, then everything was piled onto the empanada dough, along with monterey jack cheese, walla walla sweet onions, roma tomatoes, and cilantro:






The empanada was cooked indirect at 325 degrees:




Dinner is served:





The next night I prepared grilled tri tip taquitos. The corn tortillas were flash fried in beef tallow just to make them very pliable (while adding fat):



They were topped with the tri tip, montery jack cheese, green onions, and chopped beef bacon, rolled then placed on the Egg indirect style at 425 degrees:







Dinner is served:







The next night the leftover tri tip and tortillas (shaped into taco shells) were cooked down in beef tallow:








Tacos for dinner:





The next night I made tostadas by frying the tortillas in beef tallow and toppings used the tri tip, smoked refried beans, sweet onions, roma tomatoes, monterey jack and cheddar cheeses:










For dessert I made strawberry empanadas:

Strawberries were cut and cooked in a mixture of water, the juice of a meyer lemon, and brown sugar:












The empanada dough was rolled out and cut:





The stuffing was added, empanadas rolled, and cooked indirect on the BGE:










Dessert is served with a nice scoop of french vanilla:





The marinated tri tip was something that simply needs to be repeated. It was so rich with flavor, it made my eyes roll back into my head. The empanada dough was very nice, but I should have rolled it out a bit thinner and added more butter to the dough. The cooking of the tri tip and and the tortillas in beef tallow made me appreciate how things used to be done. It's healthy, full of fat soluble vitamins, and full of flavor. It will be gradually replacing my use of vegetable oil.

That's quite an accomplished menu, Smokin'

Muy bien (and then some) smokin' gal. I make beef empanadas quite often indoors in the oven, your post intrigues me because I might be able to do them out on the Egg. When I cook them in the oven they're placed on sheet pans preheated with a small amount of oil, I'll just have to figure out a way to cook them on the Egg that crisps them up without the oil. The plate setter or pizza stone may be enough. Anyway you certainly look like you had a fun week eating south of the border. As a newbie Egg owner several questions if I may:

Is the picture of the first empanada on the platesetter a progress shot? The reason I ask is there is quite a bit of browning that occurred from the platesetter to your plate.

Also why did you use parchment paper for the first empanada and for the dessert empanadas it looks like you used a pizza stone in lieu of the parchment paper? Seems like less cleanup is involved with parchment paper, so I figured you had a good reason for using the pizza stone the second time around.

I also find it interesting about baking that same dough, for the same type of thing can have two vastly different recipes. The recipe I use makes about twice as much dough but you're using more butter already. My recipe also has sugar, two types of flour which yours doesn't, but doesn't use egg or vinegar. Instead it uses water and tequila. A long way of saying I find it interesting that you felt you needed more butter for your recipe. Mine uses 1 1/2 sticks of butter for about twice as much dough by weight.

That was a great price you got on the tri-tip, but I noticed the regular price of yours seems to be higher than I remember you saying you paid in the past. I think it's a shame because tri-tip seems to be getting more popular around here and the price seems to be going up with that that increased popularity.

Jim

Smokin' Girl.

Awesome, you pictures took me back to my childhood, one of my best friends growing up, his mother used to make these for us all the time..


Thanks for sharing.

4 great meals from 1 piece of beef...way to get your money's worth! Impossible to choose one over the others!

That all looks fantastic! If I ever ask anyone for tri-tip in these areas they get their eyes falling out of their head.

Wow!! Everything looks great, but I think I'd be burned out on tri-tip for awhile after all that.

smokin' gal,

I always know your posts have lots of good food, but when the subject includes "(and then some)" I knew we were in for a real treat. Everything truly looks wonderful

Thanks for sharing,

Thanks everyone for checking out my post and for your comments.

jfm0830 wrote:

Is the picture of the first empanada on the platesetter a progress shot?

Yes.

jfm0830 wrote:

Also why did you use parchment paper for the first empanada and for the dessert empanadas it looks like you used a pizza stone in lieu of the parchment paper?

I used the pizza stone both times. I just ran out of parchment paper for the dessert empanadas.

jfm0830 wrote:

...I find it interesting that you felt you needed more butter for your recipe. Mine uses 1 1/2 sticks of butter for about twice as much dough by weight.

I felt the dough could have been flakier. I definitely should have rolled it out thinner, and perhaps used some animal fat in lieu of butter.

jfm0830 wrote:

That was a great price you got on the tri-tip, but I noticed the regular price of yours seems to be higher than I remember you saying you paid in the past.

The price of everything has gone up.

griffin wrote:

...I think I'd be burned out on tri-tip for awhile after all that.

Well, I definitely won't having a craving for Mexican food anytime soon.

GraySHUSS! So much food lust going on in my head right now...

Awesome looking meal as usual SG!!
That was an awesome price on the Tri Tip, never seen it that low.
I love empanadas, but never thought to make them on the grill. I always deep-fry them. I’ll have to try that, and especially with the Tri Trip. The dessert ones look great too. There is a Turkish recipe similar to those, except they’re stuffed with cinnamon and walnuts and drizzled with honey syrup like Baklava.

<wipes drool from keyboard> Wow! That looks tasty. Those are some creative uses of that cut of meat.

If you're willing to buy a lot at once (like 6-8 tri-tip roasts in a vacuum sealed bag) you can get it down to around $4 or $5 a pound (IIRC) at Costco Business Centers. These aren't very common sadly. They have lots of things that a standard Costco doesn't have as they are aimed primarily at businesses. (Like a walk in fridge so large that they provide courtesy parkas while you shop! )

Take care,

Derek