Nicholas Gavin is the Culinary Creative Director of ChefSteps, where he develops recipes and is responsible for making all the food look beautiful. Nick has worked at ChefSteps for over a decade; he and ChefSteps co-founder Grant Crilly worked together at Modernist Cuisine. Nick has worked in professional kitchens both in the United States and abroad, most notably at Mugaritz in San Sebastian, Spain.

Nicholas Gavin

<a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/cuts/beef-trimmed-tri-tip-roast">Tri-tip</a>—aka Newport or Santa Maria steak—doesn’t get much love, and that’s a shame. It’s super flavorful and beefy, and like our other favorite, under-appreciated cut, <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/cuts/beef-boneless-square-cut-chuck">chuck</a>, it can be prepared as a <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/flavor-packed-feast-worthy-chuck-roast">showstopping roast</a> or as a killer, <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/ultimate-grilled-chuck-steak">budget-friendly steak</a>.Cooking tri-tip properly can be challenging. It’s a whole muscle of uneven thickness; the direction of the grain changes about halfway through the muscle; and, since it comes from the rear leg, <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/decoding-tough-and-tender-cuts">it can be tough</a> when cooked too rare or too well-done.Cooking tri-tip sous vide addresses two of these challenges: It’ll cook evenly from edge to edge, and you can dial in your preferred doneness and texture. Not only can you get a perfect medium-rare steak every time, you can also control tenderness simply by extending the cooking time. For this tri-tip, we provide two options: steaky with just the right amount of chew or melt-in-your-mouth tender.Separating the tri-tip into two pieces makes it easier to figure out which way the grain runs, which will make it easier to slice against the grain once the beef is cooked sous vide. It also slightly increases the surface area of each piece, so you can add more of the aromatic blackening spice and get a higher ratio of blackened crust to rosy meat.You can serve the tri-tip all by itself, and it’ll be the star of any cookout. But when it’s dressed with our <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/grilled-tomato-vinaigrette">Grilled Tomato Vinaigrette</a> and paired with a simple grilled radicchio and gem salad with roasted pine nuts and goat cheese, it’s this summer’s steak salad stunner.

Blackened Tri-Tip Steak Salad