Father’s Day around here is always a bit of…a challenge. Not because my husband is difficult; it’s just that his interests are soooooooo geeky. I’m not really knowledgeable enough about the kind of things he likes to make informed purchases.
If I ask him what he would like, it’s always, “Nothing. I have everything I need.” Which is really sweet to hear, but not so easy to shop for. I love that he’s happy! That means the world to me. But I want to acknowledge him, too. He’s a great dad!
As a result of my desire to mark Father’s Day, he’s received piles of cool t-shirts over the years. He’s pretty well set for cool t-shirts at this point. So when I got the opportunity of test-driving some oh-so-fancy-pants-beef via Father’s Day Gifts by Snake River Farms, I was really excited.
And so was he. We are very enthusiastic carnivores around these parts.
It didn’t take long though, before I started feeling nervous. This is not your supermarket special we’re talking. This is the same meat that celebrity chefs at world-class restaurants use: Thomas Keller at The French Laundry, Wolfgang Puck at CUT and Eric Hellner at Metropolitan Steak House. Movie stars go to these restaurants to eat this meat. Me? I don’t know I’ve ever been to a restaurant with an actual maître d’, let alone one wearing a tux. I wondered if I was totally out of my league.
What if I messed it up? For years I didn’t even buy steaks because I couldn’t ever get them to turn out. I didn’t want to traumatize the culinarily sophisticated by tales of meaty mishaps. Would pictures of what I did to this lovely beef leave chef-types sobbing, possibly curled up in a fetal position on the kitchen floor? I totally wouldn’t feel good about that.
I didn’t really need to worry, though. First of all, box came with a simple cooking guide. Directions even I could follow. I found that very reassuring. And there are lots of meat cooking tips and how-to’s on the Snake River Farms website. While I could certainly might have checked that out before preparing the meat (meaning I didn’t), I still learned a lot for next time. Ha!
Despite my concerns though, I was really excited to open up the huge, styrofoam container packed with dry ice to reveal a classy, black gift box. So excited, in fact, I yanked everything out to examine it immediately before remembering to take pictures to show y’all. Ooops.
Inside, well-protected with an ample supply of cute-yet-still-manly cardboard curls, I found a mountain of individually wrapped, vacuum packed and frozen solid hunks of gorgeous, glorious beef. Our gift box had 2 bacon-wrapped filet mignon, 2 american kobe ribeye filets, 1 HUGE bone-in ribeye (Cowboy Chop), 2 top-sirloin filets and 1 jar of espresso brava sea salt. I felt like we just won the steak lotto.
Y’all can be a little jealous now. I wouldn’t hold it against you.
I regained enough presence of mind to take a couple of snapshots and moved our haul into the fridge for thawing, and began pondering options. We ultimately choose grilling. My kid is a veteran griller and assured me, she knows how to cook up a fine steak. Her oooohing and ahhhhing over the marbling and talk of testing for doneness via the meat firmness convinced me we were in good hands.
We cooked the ribeyes and top sirloins first. They were seasoned with some mesquite rub and a little of the espresso salt. We got distracted chatting away while they were cooking, so they ended up on the grill a bit longer than they needed to be.
But it didn’t matter. Well done or not, they were still WONDERFUL! We wised up the next time around…forget the mesquite. Just an abundance of the espresso salt–since plenty would fall into the grill anyway–it really enhances the flavor of the meat, and you don’t need anything else. And we kept a closer watch. We were well-rewarded.
Bottom line? This was literally the best meat I’ve ever had. We may not have cooked it perfectly and I may not not have completely known what I was doing, but it still tasted fabulous! I learned a little about cooking steaks–and more about not being too intimidated to branch outside my comfort zone. That’s a reminder I can keep with me outside the kitchen.
Y’all, for Father’s Day gifts, low carb dad or not, you cannot go wrong with this. Do know it’s undoubtedly an indulgence; these gift packages aren’t inexpensive, even on sale. But if you want to get Dad something really special, this totally qualifies. They were a huge hit at my house. My kid was talking about getting a Snake River Farms tattoo on her belly, (mostly) joking.
“So, would this meet your criteria for a great Father’s Day gift?” I asked my husband, when he was between bites. Because this IS his early Father’s Day gift.
“As long as I didn’t have to do the dishes.”
Do you have trouble with Father’s Day gifts?
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This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Snake River Farms/Double R Ranch. The opinions and text are all mine.
