East of Santa Maria Tri-Tip

Combine all of the ingredients, except the Montreal steak seasoning, in a small mixing bowl. Mix well and set aside.

Peel and trim the roast. I say “peel” because it may have a layer of loose fat on one side. Peel that away with a sharp knife, then trim off any large chunks of fat.

You want to leave some fat on the outside if you can. All too often, supermarket roasts are over-trimmed. If that’s the case, just press on.

The next step is to give the roast its mud bath with the schmear. There ain’t no pretty way to do this. You’ve just gotta dive in and get your hands very dirty. Make sure you get it completely covered as evenly as possible.

Put it in a zip-top bag and put it in the fridge to get happy for at least six hours, or preferably overnight.

Take it out of the bags and let it set out for about an hour before you are ready to cook.

Start a good sized fire with a 50/50 mix of mesquite lump charcoal and whatever briquets you use and prepare for indirect cooking. You are shooting for a cooking temperature of 350 degrees. If you’re using a gas grill, make a smoker pouch with some mesquite chips.

Just before they are about to go on, hit both sides of the roast with a decent coating of Montreal Steak seasoning. Press it in to make sure it sticks.

Once your grill or cooker is hot, commence cookage! You want cook indirect starting with the fattier side down.

When the internal temperature in center of the thickest part of the roast reaches 125º (about an hour at 350-375º), flip it over.

Continue cooking until the internal temperature reaches 135º (about 30 more minutes).

Move the roast to a platter, tent it with foil and let it rest for 15-20 minutes.

Cut across the grain into 1/4″ slices, serve with some nice salsa and some warm flour tortillas.

You’ve got yourself a crowd-pleasin’ spread o’ cow.

Enjoy!