Steak Dinner For Two And A Giveaway For A Whole Foods Market Gift Card!

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I am so excited you guys! This weekend I am taking over the Whole Foods Virginia Beach Instagram account! I’ll be sharing tips and recipes featuring my favorite items from the store, as well as this weekend’s Hot Deals! I’ll also be blogging the recipes and extra features all weekend, so keep checking back!

To celebrate even more I am hosting a GIVEAWAY for a $25 Gift Card to Whole Foods Market! Eeek! (Enter the Giveaway at the bottom of this post, below the recipe.)
Some girls get excited about going shopping at a really cool mall or boutique… I’m not one of those girls. I get excited about going to the grocery store. I’ve genuinely loved Whole Foods Market for as long as I knew it existed. When my husband told me that we might be moving to Virginia Beach, one of the first things I did was Google to see if they had a Whole Foods Market, which, lo and behold…. they do, and it is a wonderful place that I frequent on an alarmingly regular basis.

The thing about Whole Foods Markets is that they are all a little different. Some are big, some are small, and each one has its own local flare, and Whole Foods Market Virginia Beach is no different. It’s right down the street from the actual beach, and in the summer it’s not uncommon to see people stop in wearing their bathing suit, a cover-up, and flip flops, sand still on their feet, cozying up to the bar on “The Porch” and have a cold beer and a bite to eat.

Like all Whole Foods Markets, the Virginia Beach location has an awesome selection of local items, and also items that are sourced from all over Virginia and the northern areas of North Carolina.

Since we live on the coast, there is a large selection of local wild-caught fish and other sustainable seafood. I love that they even feature the fishermen! My favorite local catch is Rockfish, and this weekend they also have Wild Caught Halibut on sale for $2 off!

I also love their humanely-raised pork selection, and especially the organic sausages! Right next to the pork they have a great selection of high-quality beef, and my personal favorite, Grass-Fed Beef.

In particular, they feature some Grass-Fed Beef from Baldwin Farms in Yanceyville, NC. I actually used to live 20 minutes away from Baldwin Beef Farms, and I used to buy my grass-fed beef directly from them at their farm store, from the farmer’s wife, Peggy. They raise beautiful, all-white cows, called Charolais cows, that produce naturally lean meat, and because they are grass-fed, they are high in healthy CLA, as well as vitamin E and Omega 3s.

In fact, some selections of Grass-fed beef steaks are on sale this weekend for $1 off at the Virginia Beach location (check your own local store to see specials). I decided to take advantage of this special and buy a few grass-fed NY Strips for me and my husband to have a date night for two at home. I also picked out a few spices from the bulk section to make a custom rub.

What I love about the bulk spice section is that you can buy just what you need to make your recipe.

Don’t be scared of the price per pound and get sticker shock! They may seem pricey, but in reality, what you buy weighs only a little. For instance, the dried porcini mushrooms I bought cost $52 a pound, but I bought about 2 tablespoons worth, and it only cost me 52 cents! For all the spices in the rub, I paid less than a dollar COMBINED. I also love that Whole Food carries organic, peeled whole garlic cloves.

Makes my life so much easier! I use them to make my Duck Fat Garlic Confit, and I throw a handful in whenever I roast mushrooms as you see above. You can find those in the refrigerated produce section at the end with all the herbs and other garlic products. So ready to learn how to make an awesome Steak Dinner for Two?

Steak Dinner for Two:

Grass Fed NY Steaks with a Chipotle Coffee Rub, topped with Roasted Shiitake Mushrooms and Whole Garlic Cloves,
with Roasted Winter Veggies on the Side

For The Steaks:

Two Grass Fed Beef NY Strip Steaks of desired thickness
1/2 Tablespoon of Coarse Himalayan Pink Sea Salt
1 Teaspoon of Whole Black Peppercorns
1 Tablespoon of Whole Coffee Beans
2 Tablespoons of Dried Porcini Mushrooms
1 Dried Chipotle Pepper
Grass-Fed Butter (Such as Kerrygold) or coconut oil for cooking

For the Roasted Shiitake Mushrooms and Whole Garlic Cloves:
1 8oz. Package of Shiitake Mushrooms
8-10 Whole Garlic Cloves
Salt and Pepper
1/2 Teaspoon of Dried Rosemary
1 1/2 tablespoons of Grass Fed Butter, Coconut Oil or Light Olive Oil

Directions:

For The Steaks:

1. An hour before you plan to eat, take out the steaks and allow them to come to room temperature before cooking. This allows for the best flavor of the steak!
2. To make the rub, first lightly toast the dried chipolte pepper in a saute pan over medium heat for about 10 minutes until fragrant, turning often to prevent burning. After the pepper is toasted, open the pepper and remove the stem, seeds, and ribbing from the inside of the pepper and discard those.
3. Add the toasted pepper and the rest of the ingredients to a coffee grinder, and pulse until combined. You don’t want large chunks of pepper in the rub, but you also don’t want the rub to be too fine. I actually have one coffee grinder that I keep just for grinding spices that is separate from my regular coffee grinder that I use for coffee.
4. About 10 minutes before you plan to cook the steaks, season them using your custom rub, and massage lightly into the meat.
5. I love to cook steaks in a cast iron skillet on the stove in a bit of butter, but you could also grill these steaks too. To cook in a cast iron skillet, heat the skillet over medium high heat and add the butter. Once melted and hot, add the steaks and cook for 30 second to a minute on one side, then flip and cook for 30 seconds on the other side for the perfect medium rare steak. Cooking times will vary based on the thickness of your steak and how done you prefer your steak. Just keep an eye on it, and turn often if need be to prevent over cooking.

For the Roasted Shiitake Mushrooms and Garlic Cloves:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 500. Remove the stems from the mushrooms, and toss the mushrooms and garlic cloves in melted butter or oil of choice. Season with salt, pepper and dried rosemary. Put mushroom garlic mixture in a small baking dish, or use a mini cast iron skillet like I do.
2. Roast for about 10 minutes until the garlic is browned and the mushrooms are cooked. Serve over top of the steaks.

To round out your Steak Night Dinner for Two, serve alongside my Roasted Winter Veggies. This entire meal is low carb, gluten-free and also paleo and Whole30 compliant!

Check back this weekend for more recipes featuring the Whole Foods Weekend Hot Deals, and my favorites items from other sections of the store!