Valentines Day in the Flint Hills

I am going to take a moment to post something a little sappy here. I cannot tell you all how incredibly proud I am of my cowboy! I fell in love with this man the moment I saw him, he doesn’t believe me, but I said to myself “that is the man I am going to marry.” You see we both judged livestock in junior college and we were at the National Western Livestock Show in Denver at the Carload Contest. Arturo pulled up on the fence next to me to evaluate the bulls in the class we were judging and let’s just say I don’t think I marked my card correctly. I was head over heels in love with this man before I even knew his name.

Not only was he ruggedly handsome, but he had a look of true concentration on the class. Seriously sexy to me! That afternoon after the contest our teams all hit the slopes together. We visited. Well I should say I talked and he listened, not much has changed there. He likes to joke and say he was a little slow and never thought that I would be interested in him! Anyway…at the next contest in Fort Worth, he got my number and the rest was history! That was 14 years ago and I don’t think we have gone a day without a conversation!

Now back to why I am so proud of this man…he has had that same drive and desire to be an active part of providing a safe and wholesome beef product for consumers. He studied hard, received his PhD, and worked full time as the herd manger for the Kansas State University Cow Calf Unit. He graduated, took a leap of faith and started his own nutrition-consulting firm a year ago. Don’t get me wrong he loves his career as a nutritionist, but the last couple of years he has missed being a true cowboy. He has missed early mornings in the cold and snow feeding and hot days in the summer riding through cattle to make sure they are healthy. He has missed being a true cowman. So he set his sights on creating a business that will allow him to do both…consult and be a cattleman. And as of last week his plans that he has worked hard for and that we have prayed for have fallen into place. I am proud of the man I get to live this life with, he is a loving, devoted husband and father and is just as passionate about his role in the beef industry! So happy Valentines Day to my Cowboy!

This is one of our favorite meals to celebrate this day of LOVE and in our minds you just have to have a steak to do so! We hope that you enjoy this meal with someone special that you are super proud of!

Beef Filets with a Shiitake Mushroom Sauce and Roasted Carrots

2 Filets about 2inches thick each
2 cloves garlic
5 TBS butter
Grill seasoning
8 oz Shiitake mushrooms
Dry red wine

Grill Seasoning

4 tablespoons kosher salt
3 tablespoons New Mexico Chili Powder
2 tablespoons dried granulated garlic
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper
1 tablespoon ground thyme

Combine all ingredients in a mason jar and shake.

Season the steaks liberally with grill seasoning and set aside. Add the butter and garlic cloves to a cast iron skillet and place on your hottest burner over low heat to melt the butter. When the butter begins to brown increase the heat to medium high and immediately add your steaks. Sear about 3-4 minutes per side for rare to medium rare. Remove the steaks from the skillet and set on a warm plate and tent with foil to rest. Add the mushrooms to the skillet and reduce the heat to medium and sauté the mushrooms a few minutes until they begin to give off some of their liquor. At this point add about a ½ cup of dry red wine and season with a little salt and pepper reducing the wine until it gets a little thick. At this point add the accumulated drippings from the rested steaks to the sauce and you are ready to plate. Place each steak in the center of the plate and top with half of the mushroom sauce. We served our steaks with roasted carrots and a nice glass of red wine!

Enjoy!