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Tri-Tip Fat Sandwich Recipe

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Michigan continued its hot start to the season, thumping Northern Illinois, 63-10. With a 3-0 record, the Wolverines begin Big Ten play this Saturday against Rutgers. The upstart Scarlet Knights are also 3-0 in Greg Schiano’s second season back in Piscataway.

Rutgers won 61-14 over Temple in Week 1, 17-7 at Syracuse in Week 2, and 45-13 over Delaware this past Saturday.

I lived near the Rutgers University campus for about nine months back in 2006. I was working for an experiential marketing agency, promoting Verizon Wireless at events throughout the Northeast. The brand new Comfort Suites hotel in Somerset, N.J. became our home away from home, so we visited New Brunswick frequently.

So I knew just what to make for this week’s Tailgate Tuesday: my version of a fat sandwich.

Fried pickles & mushrooms

A Brief History of the Fat Sandwich

One of the best aspects of the area was the grease trucks that served classic late-night drunk food, mostly fried. They started in the early 1980s and moved locations a couple of times before landing next to Union Street, which was where most of the fraternities and sororities were. They were open 24 hours, but local residents complained of the noise, fighting, and more.

In the early 2000s, they were relocated again, this time to College Ave. That’s where I experienced them during the time I lived nearby.

The grease trucks became popular for their “fat sandwiches”, which essentially just combined different variations of fried food items onto a sandwich.

In 1997, a student named Darrell Butler was craving chicken fingers, mozzarella sticks, and french fries. He asked the guy working the truck to put them all onto a sandwich. He did and it became known as the “Fat Darrell.” It was named #1 Sandwich in the Country by Maxim magazine in 2004.

Smoked Tri-Tip

A Few Notes

Since there are so many different variations of fat sandwiches, I decided to create my own fat sandwich recipe.

I love cooking (and eating) tri-tip. They aren’t super cheap anymore, but no meat is. The good news is they have become much easier to find in recent years. Tri-tips are a triangular cut from the bottom sirloin and were popularized in Santa Maria, Calif. They’re also super easy to cook and don’t take long at all.

If you can’t find one at your local grocery store, ask the butcher or go to a meat market.

Frying onions, pickles, and mushrooms

The Tri-Tip Fat Sandwich Recipe

First, make your horseradish sauce so it has time to meld together in the fridge. Mix together one cup of Duke’s mayo, a 9.75-ounce bottle of prepared horseradish, a splash of cider vinegar, a few cloves of garlic, and a teaspoon of coarse ground black pepper. Mix well and place in the fridge.

Fire up your smoker to 225 degrees using indirect heat. I like using pecan or oak wood for tri-tips but since they are beef they can handle hickory or even mesquite.

Trim any gristle off of your tri-tip and season it with your choice of beef rub. I used my upcoming beef rub recipe that will be released sometime in the next six months or so.

Put your tri-tip on the grate and smoke for about 45 minutes.

While that’s smoking, slice up your onions and get your pickles and mushrooms ready. Next, make your batter. Mix together a cup of flour, a cup of water, an egg, a teaspoon of baking powder, and a hefty shake of your beef rub. Pour your bread crumbs into a separate bowl.

If you are using a regular fryer, fill it with oil heat it up. If you are using a cast iron pan, fill it with oil and heat it up.

Coat your onions with corn starch, then dip them into the batter and then coat them with bread crumbs. Place them into the fryer, being careful not to overload it. If you do, they will stick to each other. Fry for about 10-12 minutes, until they are crispy, shaking the basket a couple of times throughout.

Repeat the process with your mushrooms and your pickles.

Once your tri-tip has reached 120 degrees internal, remove from the smoker, place in a half foil pan (or a plate), and cover with foil. Crank up the heat of your smoker. If you are using a Big Green Egg, remove the plate setter and leave the lid open for a few minutes.

Now, using tongs, place your tri-tip directly on the hot coals. This is my favorite method for searing a tri-tip — caveman style. You can also pan-sear if you prefer, or use Grill Grates. Let sear for about one minute, then flip and go for another minute. Remove and place back into your pan (or plate) to rest for about 10-15 minutes before slicing.

To slice the tri-tip, make sure you slice across the grain. The grain turns about halfway on a tri-tip, so keep a good eye on which way it’s going as you slice. I also like to cube it up when I put it on sandwiches.

Put a generous heaping of tri-tip onto your bun, then top with some fried onion strings, fried mushrooms, and fried pickles. Drizzle some of your horseradish sauce overtop and you’re ready to eat!

And that, my friends, is my own fat sandwich recipe!

Tri-Tip Fat Sandwich

My take on the Rutgers grease truck fat sandwich features a reverse-seared tri-tip sandwich topped with fried onion straws, mushrooms, and pickles, and a creamy horseradish sauce.

  • Smoker
  • Fryer
  • 1 Tri-Tip
  • Beef rub
  • 8 Hoagie buns
  • 1 Vidalia onion
  • 1 package Mushrooms
  • 1 jar Dill pickles
  • 1 cup Flour
  • 1 cup Water
  • 1 Egg
  • 1 tsp Baking powder
  • 1 TBSP Corn starch
  • 1 cup Duke's Mayo
  • 1 bottle Prepared horseradish
  • 5 cloves Garlic
  • 1-2 TBSP Apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp Coarse ground black pepper
  • 1 can Bread crumbs

  1. Make your horseradish sauce

  2. Mix together 1 cup Duke's Mayo, a 9.75-ounce bottle of prepared horseradish, a splash of cider vinegar, 5 cloves of garlic, and a teaspoon of coarse ground black pepper.

  3. Mix well, then place in the fridge to meld.

  4. Fire up your smoker to 225 degrees using indirect heat and your choice of wood.

  5. Trim your tri-tip and season with your beef rub. Place onto the grate, close the lid, and let go for about 45 minutes to an hour until it reaches 120 degrees internal.

  6. While it's smoking, slice your onion and get your mushrooms and pickles ready.

  7. Make your batter. Mix together 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of water, 1 egg, a hefty shake of your beef rub, and 1 teaspoon of baking powder. Pour your bread crumbs into a separate bowl.

  8. Coat your onions in corn starch. Heat up your fryer.

  9. Once the fryer is heated, dip your onions into the batter, then coat with the bread crumbs and put into the oil. Be careful not to overload or they will all stick to each other.

  10. Fry for about 10-12 minutes, shaking the basket a couple of times, until they are crispy. Pour out onto a paper towel to dry and cool.

  11. Repeat the process with the mushrooms and pickles.

  12. Once your tri-tip has reached 120 degrees, remove from the smoker and place into a half foil pan (or plate) covered with foil. Raise the temperature on your smoker, or heat up a cast iron pan on high heat. If you are using a Big Green Egg, remove the plate setter and leave the lid open for a few minutes.

  13. Once the coals are hot, place your tri-tip directly onto them and let go for one minute. Flip and go for another minute. You want to get a good seared crust on both sides, then place back into your foil pan (or plate) to rest for 10-15 minutes before slicing.

  14. Slice against the grain. The grain on tri-tips turns about halfway through, so pay close attention to which way it is going as you slice. Then dice up your slices to make it easy to serve them on the sandwich.

  15. Place a handful of tri-tip onto your bun, then top with your fried onion straws, fried mushrooms, and fried pickles, then a drizzle of your horseradish sauce. Enjoy!

Main Course
American
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