I’m a huge proponent of the Paleo diet plan. Translation- I eat red meat. Lots of it. Unabashed. No apologies or concerns. I’m going to die of something at some point. It won’t be from lack of protein. I’m a frequent guest of Brazilian steakhouses and decided to try some of my favorite cuts grilled and no rotessirie. (Side note: Rotessirie is the same in English and Portuguese.). I wanted my first trial run to be Picanha. Or Rump Cover, Sirloin Cap, Coullote, Tri Tip, or whatever name you’d like to pin on it. I started asking around at the local grocery store meat departments and no one had what I was looking for or were not willing to custom cut one for me. Next went to one of the few local butchers and he said no problem they’d cut me one. Paid 6.39/PD for it and much to my dismay when I opened it up it was just a chunk of sirloin. You can see the Picanha in the right hand piece below. It’s the piece that’s on the upper right with the grain running in a different direction. Chalk one up to experience. BTW, it still tasted really good! (It’s red meat, enough said.).
Ended up going to a Mexican meat market in San Antonio. They knew what I wanted and simply asked how many pounds. The untrimmed piece is pictured below. It was 4.99/PD.
This is after I trimmed it a litttle, very little needed and seasoned it for searing.
Thought I’d share a picture of the “cap” since it was showing.
Post searing and a few minutes on a really hot grill. (500 degrees)
Sliced and ready to be seasoned for final cooking.
Right off the grill. For this run I got the grill steady at 400 then cooked each side for 6 minutes and finished with just enough time over the coals to produce a nice char.
The two that look more charred are for a friend who doesn’t know any better and likes his medium to medium well. Haha
For some reason this picture doesn’t show how juicy it really was. I was happy with the overall outcome. Great flavor, not as tender as I would have liked. Compared to a regular sirloin it was very tender. Guess it’s all relative like everything else. lol. But I didn’t cut it as thin as they do at Galpoa Gaucho either. Next time I will cook the whole piece to an IT of around 100 at a lower grill temperature, slice it and finish to medium rare.
I would also like to try what they call bottom sirloin. It is extremely moist and has a different flavor. I think it might be well marbled throughout and the high temperature they cook with renders the fat until its oozing everywhere. I’ll post when I do. Tommy
Ended up going to a Mexican meat market in San Antonio. They knew what I wanted and simply asked how many pounds. The untrimmed piece is pictured below. It was 4.99/PD.
This is after I trimmed it a litttle, very little needed and seasoned it for searing.
Thought I’d share a picture of the “cap” since it was showing.
Post searing and a few minutes on a really hot grill. (500 degrees)
Sliced and ready to be seasoned for final cooking.
Right off the grill. For this run I got the grill steady at 400 then cooked each side for 6 minutes and finished with just enough time over the coals to produce a nice char.
The two that look more charred are for a friend who doesn’t know any better and likes his medium to medium well. Haha
For some reason this picture doesn’t show how juicy it really was. I was happy with the overall outcome. Great flavor, not as tender as I would have liked. Compared to a regular sirloin it was very tender. Guess it’s all relative like everything else. lol. But I didn’t cut it as thin as they do at Galpoa Gaucho either. Next time I will cook the whole piece to an IT of around 100 at a lower grill temperature, slice it and finish to medium rare.
I would also like to try what they call bottom sirloin. It is extremely moist and has a different flavor. I think it might be well marbled throughout and the high temperature they cook with renders the fat until its oozing everywhere. I’ll post when I do. Tommy
