Prepping for carnivorous delights

It’s 7:30 p.m. and the Carnivore’s Delight event sponsored by the Certified Angus Beef ® brand is in full swing at the acclaimed James Beard House in New York City. Chef Scott and other esteemed culinarians spent the afternoon preparing for tonight’s beefy feast. Participating chefs include Mark Stark of Stark’s Steakhouse in Sonoma County; Darryl …   Continue Reading

South Beach Or Bust

source source Shocking … the word to best describe the differences between February spent in Massachusetts and February in Miami’s South Beach. One lucky lady will soon make the shocking discovery. When Christy B. of Bridgewater, Mass., found out she’d won a trip to the Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival presented by FOOD …   Continue Reading

Good to the bone

Look but don’t eat. A few days ago I teased you with a Cayman Cookout photo of tomahawk steaks ready for grilling. It made my mouth water, too. Truth is, that cut is nearly impossible to find. But why? I asked Chef Michael and our in-house meat scientist, Dr. Phil. As it turns out, the old …   Continue Reading

The Cayman chop

You’re looking at a tray of Certified Angus Beef ® brand Natural tomahawk chops ready and waiting for the grill at the Barefoot BBQ. Somewhere on a Cayman island beach men, women and celebrity chefs are digging their toes in the sand and savoring the Caribbean’s most fantastic flavors. Chef Scott Popovic is attending the …   Continue Reading

Cayman Cookout

While we’re in Wooster settling in for what looks to be the first real snowstorm of winter — odd for Ohio — Chef Scott is enjoying the sand and sun of the Caribbean. He join the likes of chefs Eric Ripert, Anthony Bourdain and others, for a weekend of food, wine and the natural beauty of …   Continue Reading

The long and dusty trail

The dust hasn’t settled and work continues on our project. You know, the one we told you about here and here. It’s exciting to watch the progress. The Certified Angus Beef ® Education & Culinary Center (ECC) is looking more like its namesake with each passing day. Most of the drywall is up, sanded and …   Continue Reading

The making of manicotti

Our chefs are always creating new recipes to showcase Certified Angus Beef ® brand cuts. Every recipe goes through an initial development stage and sometimes they ask fellow staffers to take it for a test drive.  It’s almost like takeout … except you’re required to cook it yourself. They send you home with a recipe, cooking instructions and …   Continue Reading

Chef Michael’s party plan for all ages

How does a chef plan a New Year’s Eve party when both adults and children are involved? We asked Certified Angus Beef ® brand Chef Michael Ollier to describe his strategies for the last and first party of the year. Q: Do you prefer appetizers, tapas-style meals or a complete dinner? A: It depends on the venue. …   Continue Reading

New Year’s Eve ideas from the chef

How does a chef plan a New Year’s Eve party? It depends on the individual, of course, but here’s what Certified Angus Beef ® brand Chef Scott Popovic had to tell us about his upcoming holiday celebration. Q: What three things should be on every New Year’s Eve party food table? A: Great beef, something refreshing and …   Continue Reading

Gather ye spices while ye may

Struggling to find the perfect gift idea for the person who has everything? By George, we’ve got it! The ideal gift … and it won’t rub anyone the wrong way. Make spice rubs for steaks and roasts. Gather some pretty plastic or glass bottles — heck, even a zipper-locking bag will do the trick. Then stir together your …   Continue Reading

Meet the chef

Meet Jamie Steinbrecher, executive chef at Okeechobee Steak House in West Palm Beach, Fla. Chef Jamie recently showcased Certified Angus Beef ® brand strip steaks at the Americas Food & Beverage Show in Miami Beach. And when we say showcased, what we mean is … He grilled a tender, juicy Certified Angus Beef ® brand …   Continue Reading

Words to win by

  ***Update*** Wow! You folks sure made it a tough decision. We certainly love the notion that beef is what’s for Thanksgiving. And who can argue with the wise words of Dr. Seuss. Bradley … funny, but don’t do it! And a meat coma? Ha! We loved ALL of your answers and though it was …   Continue Reading

Diary of a recipe tester

We do a lot of cooking around here. Not a day goes by there’s not a chef or meat expert in the company kitchen creating new recipes, or experimenting with cutting and cooking methods. The smells that waft through the office on a near-daily basis are downright distracting. And then there are occasions when the chefs let the …   Continue Reading

Supper in the South

Picture yourself in the deep south. It’s a Sunday afternoon … leaves turning, only a hint of chill in the air. The scents and sights of culinary decadence you can only find below the Mason-Dixon line filling the atmosphere. For any food-loving, red-blooded biped, this is a thin slice of Heaven. And for one afternoon recently …   Continue Reading

Construction zone

A few weeks ago we introduced our newest project, the Certified Angus Beef ® Education & Culinary Center. Progress continues on the building and each day we’re a step closer to providing interactive demonstrations, meeting space and educational opportunities to our foodservice and retail partners. The grand opening is scheduled for the new year … and …   Continue Reading

Seeing RED for a tasty cause

It may seem strange for the chef of one of Miami’s hottest restaurants to invite his competitors over for dinner. And not only that, he invited them to cook … in his kitchen. If you knew Chef Peter Vauthy (maybe you do!), you’d realize he likes to color outside of the lines and think outside the box. Vauthy, …   Continue Reading

Autumn in New York

What could be better than fabulous wines, exquisite tastes and the company of fabulous foodies! Our team — including Mary McMillen, director of Marketing (left) and Barb Burd, marketing manager, traveled to New York last week with meat scientist Dr. Phil Bass and Chef Michael Ollier. The men in white made quite an impression at the  New …   Continue Reading

Remains of the day

I challenge thee to refuel … with leftovers. They have a bad reputation, it’s true. Leftovers are crammed into plastic containers and pushed to the back of the fridge. They’re abandoned, folks — sentenced to a slow, fuzzy death in no man’s land. Therefore I say, who among you is brave enough to make something of the day’s …   Continue Reading

Primal instincts

“O! for a muse of fire, that would ascend the brightest heaven of invention.” ~ William Shakespeare  Fire is fascinating … intriguing … mesmerizing and captivating. It brings heat and light to cold and darkness. It warms away chills and perhaps most important to mankind, cooks our food. There is beauty in the sizzle of tender …   Continue Reading

One night, five dinners

On a gorgeous evening in the great Northwest, more than 600 people from all over the world gathered for dinner at the Certified Angus Beef ® Annual Conference. They wanted to experience Oregon’s fantastic flavors and majestic scenery. Guests could dine with dignitaries, enjoy the cowboy way, experience a perfect pairing, eat on the trail or escape on a twilight canoe …   Continue Reading

Do the Mashed Potato Burger

We asked … you voted … the results are in: Virtual Burger Bash Champion Chef Anthony Vidal of Hash House A Go Go! Chef Anthony’s Mashed Potato Burger received the most votes in our Virtual Burger Bash Facebook poll. See his competition, here. We’d also like to congratulate Chef Ric Rosser of Saltgrass Steakhouse Winner of the Official …   Continue Reading

Battle of the Burgers

Who doesn’t love a juicy burger? Even the no-meater-eaters of the world create burger wannabes from things like mushrooms, tofu and cardboard. Don’t hold it against them … it means more tasty, tantalizing, beefy burgers for us carnivores. Last night, as the sun was setting over Oregon’s Cascade Mountains, burger aficionados gathered at Sunriver Resort for Burger …   Continue Reading

Where legends are made

Imagine you’re headed to a breathtaking spot in Oregon’s Cascade Mountains to talk, eat and learn about Angus beef. You’ll be surrounded by industry leaders with unique businesses and a common desire: to provide mouthwatering steaks that not only please the taste buds, but surpass a beef lover’s wildest dreams. We’re in Oregon this week for …   Continue Reading

It’s all about the smoke

Editor’s note: Story and photos by Chef Michael Ollier, who believes the heart and soul of American cuisine begins at the family dinner table. It’s a philosophy that serves him well as chef for the Certified Angus Beef ® brand. Experiences on the Central Texas Heritage Barbeque Tour I’ve conceded. You win, Mother Nature. As much as …   Continue Reading

Build it and they will come

We have a vision dancing in our heads. It has nothing at all to do with sugarplums and everything to do with culinary excellence. We’re dreaming of perfection, folks … decadent steaks, award-winning recipes and a masterpiece theater of sorts for beef connoisseurs. Certified Angus Beef LLC recently purchased a 7,000-sq. foot building next to our corporate …   Continue Reading

Closed captioned

Calling all wordsmiths! It may look like the leaning Tower of Pisa, but this tasty-looking masterpiece is actually Barbecued Bistro Napoleon with Blue Cheese Grit Cakes — a special occasion dish created by our own Chef Scott. Just for fun, we thought we’d search for a caption. Forget those one-word contests of weeks past. How about a catchy phrase or …   Continue Reading

Play with fire

I’m passionate about tasty meals for family and friends, and it doesn’t matter if I’m in my kitchen or stuck out in the woods with nothing more than pine needles and matches. Good food doesn’t come about because of the latest and greatest appliances or culinary tricks. It occurs when you start with high-quality ingredients and the …   Continue Reading

Flat iron fabulous

I ordered a steak salad at a local restaurant. Luscious bites of flat iron steak sliced thin and grilled to medium doneness over a bed of Romaine lettuce, with a sprinkling of sauteed mushrooms and blue cheese. Yummy! Have you heard of the flat iron steak? It’s the poor man’s savvy shopper’s beef tenderloin. Flat iron — also called …   Continue Reading

Word is

AND THE WINNER IS … Glen with his word: MARBELOUS. Because we agree … that photo makes us salivate over the tender-lookin’, highly-marbled, sure-to-be tasty, MARBELOUS Certified Angus Beef ® brand fresh cuts. Congratulations, Glen … thanks for playing, everyone! Tune in next week for another chance to win!   It’s Wednesday … we’re searching for a word …   Continue Reading

Gimme a word for this

It’s Wednesday … we’re searching for a word … What word does this photo inspire? Leave us your one-word answer in the comments section. At the end of the day we’ll pick our favorite word and send a prize to the winning contributor. Good luck!  Continue Reading

Rare Pair – kids and fine food

My five year-old exclaimed at dinner: “Mmmm! That’s good stuff, baby!” The 10 year-old oldest child replied: “The rice?” “Nooo — the beef. Duh!” said the five year-old with all the indignance he could muster with a mouthful of tri-tip and meat juices running down his chin. Like it or not, I’m a proud parent of three …   Continue Reading

Howdy, cowboy

I have a stack of magazines on my desk — everything from plate to Saveur to bon appétit. The cover phrases speak volumes and the photos make my mouth water. I know we’re not to judge a book by its cover, but no one can argue they say a lot whether we like it or not. …   Continue Reading

Myths and misnomers

  There are many opinions and assumptions about beef floating around the wild blue yonder. Determining fact from fiction takes up valuable time and energy in an age of conservation and eco-friendly living. Conserve your resources. It’s time to do some myth-bustin’. MYTH: Grass-fed beef is healthier and more eco-friendly than grain-finished beef. FACT: All beef …   Continue Reading