Best-Ever Grilled Steak Tips
Denise Landis is the founder & CEO of The Cook's Cook.
I discovered how to make the best-ever grilled steak tips out of pure laziness. I had leftover Caesar salad dressing in the fridge and poured it into a bag with the steak tips. What are steak tips? I added the same amount of barbecue sauce, sealed the bag, and squished everything together. Everything was refrigerated overnight and grilled for lunch the next day. It was phenomenal. The dressing tenderized the meat, and the sugars in the barbecue sauce caramelized, making the charred bits smoky and sweet.
This non-recipe is a gem,
whether you use store-bought dressing and barbecue sauce or take the extra steps to make your own. The latter option not only rewards you with extra dressing for your Caesar salad but also fills you with a sense of pride that comes from creating something ‘from scratch. ‘
This Caesar dressing was inspired by Michael Bacon’s Quest for the Perfect Caesar Salad. The barbecue sauce is adapted from Pressure Perfect by Lorna Sass (Morrow 2004).
If you make this with 1.3-1.8 Kg (3-4 pounds) beef steak tips, it should serve 10-12 people.
Ingredients
For the Caesar salad dressing:
- 1 large clove garlic, minced
- Juice of half a lemon, or to taste
- 1-2 anchovies
- 1 egg, raw or coddled
- 177 ml (3/4 cup) finely grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 1/2 tablespoons brown mustard
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- 118 ml (1/2 cup) extra-virgin olive oil, or as needed
For the barbecue sauce:
- 237 ml (1 cup) bottled chili sauce
- 60 ml (1/4 cup) molasses
- 3 tablespoons whole grain mustard
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 2 tablespoons cider vinegar or red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce or Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons Tabasco or other hot sauce
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- A few drops of liquid smoke (any flavor), optional
For the steak tips:
- 1.3-1.8 Kg (3-4 pounds) beef steak tips
Preparation
- For the Caesar salad dressing: In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except the olive oil. Mash everything to paste. Whisk in the olive oil, and taste it, adjusting the lemon so it is piquant. If the mixture is very thick, add up to 60 ml (1/4 cup) more olive oil. Cover and refrigerate until needed.
2. For the barbecue sauce: Combine all ingredients and whisk until smooth. Cover and refrigerate until needed.
3. To marinate the steak tips: Place the meat in a ziplock storage bag and add 118 ml (1/2 cup) each of the Caesar salad dressing and the barbecue sauce. Return the extra dressing and sauce to the refrigerator. Seal the bag, mash it gently until the liquid is mixed well and thoroughly coating all sides of the meat. Refrigerate the meat overnight.
4. To cook and serve: Preheat a grill until very hot. Dump the bag of meat onto the grill and spread it evenly. Grill to taste, turning as needed, and brushing with the reserved sauce. Use the remaining Caesar salad dressing to dress a green salad.
Denise Landis
Denise Landis had been employed as an archeologist for seven years before a food editor hired her to test some recipes from a cookbook manuscript. This short stint led to longer assignments, and two years later she began testing recipes for the New York Times. She has been a professional recipe tester and editor for over 25 years, is the author of a New York Times cookbook, and has written for numerous publications. She is a member of the New York Chapter of Les Dames d’ Escoffier.
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