NY Beef Checkoff Works to Inspire Food Bloggers with Beef

The event focused on teaching attendees how to prepare the perfect steak and selecting the ideal wine pairing to highlight beef’s flavor. Chef Instructors Jamie Rotter and Patrick Rae of Finger Lakes Community College led the food bloggers in a live cooking class as they prepared a NY strip steak two ways. Attendees learned how to sear the perfect steak in the kitchen and tips on how to grill to perfection every time. Attendees prepared a Blue Cheese Compound Butter and Cutting-Edge Steak Rub to complement their steaks.   

NYBC enlisted the help of Certified Sommelier, Laurie Forster of @WineCoach, and Lakewood Vineyards in Watkins Glen, NY to guide the food influencers in selecting wines that complement and enhance their beef recipes. The group learned about beef’s unique flavor profile and how to elevate steaks by engaging the fifth taste, umami. One Steak Night attendee shared, “The interaction of pairing the beef with wine and learning more about that was all really interesting and insightful, and a lot of fun to be able to do the wine tasting technique and then put the tasting and pairing with the cooked meal into practice.”   

Post evaluations of the event revealed that 100% of attendees would recommend this opportunity to their blogging colleagues. When asked to reflect on the evening one attendee shared, “It reminded me to do fun, different things than I normally would do: I.e. I've never thought to make a compound butter as part of a steak dinner I'm cooking, and it was so easy and is so customizable I'll definitely be doing it again in the future.”   

New York Beef Council Director of Producer Communications and Influencer Outreach, Katherine Staiger noted, “These influencers have a large social network and strong rapport with their followers. Their voices as beef advocates provides a direct link to thousands of consumers who may have questions about beef production, processing, or cookery. Therefore, arming bloggers with beef skills and information will help them to share the beef story.” The attendees of the Virtual Steak Night have a combined Instagram following of over 680,000. The goal of the NYBC is to serve as the premier source of beef information to the influencers in our region.    

To learn more about the New York Beef Council and Beef Checkoff efforts visit www.nybeef.org or NY Beef Checkoff on Facebook. For updates on Beef Checkoff funded efforts in NY and nationally subscribe to The Drive newsletter at www.beefboard.org/the-drive-sign-up-form.