Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received these products, free of charge, from Certified Steak and Seafood Company, via Tomoson, , for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it
And now for the best part of the holidays- the FOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yup, you know with the family coming you need food that will feed the masses.
But what if you aren't having the hordes at your house this year
(you can scream 'hosanna!' if you want), and you'd rather make a small special meal instead?
I have THE solution for you:
Certified Steak and Seafood Company is an online purveyor of the finest meats and seafood available. they have one simple commitment to their customers: offer the finest product, at a reasonable cost, and support our customer before, during, and after the sale with the highest quality care in our industry.
Sounds pretty simple, but really, how often does that happen when it comes to FOOD items?
Exactly!
Their commitment starts with the best raw product available, Certified Angus Beef. I can testify just how much a difference that makes! My uncles raises Black Angus and his meat is leaner, tastier and doesn't shrink like that you get in the stores! Certified cuts their steaks to an exacting standard, taking great care in the trim, weight, and uniformity, to make sure you get the best cut possible. Their Prime beef is graded as the top 1% of available beef.
They also source their seafood directly, then inspect and sort it based on weight and presentation. They keep only what qualifies as the top 20% of food service grade for their customers- which means you are NOT getting some great meat and some standard- you are only getting the BEST looking and tasting seafood!
What really sets Certified apart though is the extra step they take with their products, by having a neutral 3rd party test all of their products for any adulteration or contamination. This ensures that you only receive products that are pure and wholesome. Which is why every sale is about satisfaction. Every customer gets their own personal Concierge, who is always available to assist them in any way, in selecting, getting the right amount, and even cooking their selected products. Something else that makes Certified an unique and responsive experience, that is frequently missing in the online food industry.
We were lucky to be able to sample 3 selections from Certified to sample, and I have to tell you, we were AWED by them! They came frozen via Fed Ex in a Large styrofoam cooler, that was well packed with dry ice! Unfortunately, they arrived early and we got home late, so Dad knowing the package had meat inside, quickly unboxed them and forgot to take a picture for me! But you can tell from the remnants how much packing material there was! As he said, "No way anything was happening to that meat inside the box!".
First up was Lobster. I know others would have picked Snow Crab or Salmon, or Shrimp, but it had been a long while since we all had lobster, so we thought we'd try what their Canadian Lobster Tail was like!
As you can see the lobster comes nicely, and TIGHTLY packaged to prevent any freezer burner. It is WILD caught and fresh frozen, so there is no ;fishy' smell or flavor! Each package comes with it's own instructions, cooking directions and tip sheet. 2 lobster tails aren't really enough for 3 adults and 1 growth spurting 7 yr old who adores lobster, so I decided to make all of the samples up on one night, so we could all try them, adn create our own Surf n Turd Special!
Since we knew the kid would eat a whole tail by herself, I opted to cook the tails and then add them to a Alfredo Penne Pasta dish. I cooked the tails exactly as the instructions said (I did pull the meat up and out, I just forgot to take a picture of that!), and they came out perfectly! As you can see by the bottom left picture, we had nice fluffy meat! It was super sweet and was well worth the cost! The alfredo dish also contained sweet peppers and they were just perfect to go along with the lobster!
We also were sent 2 different types of the Black Angus Prime meat:
The Prime Angus T-Bone was HUGE! As you can see it took up most of the pan, while searing it! The 18 oz steak is different from normal T-Bones in that Certified's T-bones are really two steaks in one, New York strip on one side, filet mignon on the other. We have always loved T-bones as the thick bone really seems to more evenly cook your meat and offer up a great steak. And in fact it does- once the heat browns the fine marbling on the inside edges of the bone creating extra flavorful edges and juiciness, you get more heartier flavor.
The prime T-bones are aged for 27 days, and I followed the included tips exactly and we had a spectacular steak! I seared both pieces of meat til a nice browned char was on each side, then broiled them until they were medium to medium well.I followed their instructions and actually WAS able to tell by touch when the meat was at the right level. I was pretty impressed with the instruction sheet!
The second piece of meat was Center Cut Prime Angus Filet Mignon. Which is really a side off the T-bone above. Like the T-bone, it is aged 27 days for optimum taste.It comes in 4, 8 and 12 oz sizes. We had the 8 oz.
Even Miss Grace sighed in pleasure at how rich and buttery both pieces of meat were! The pieces may be on the expensive side, but you could easily feed 2-3 people off of one T-Bone steak, if you have a side dish and salad! Even the Filet was pretty thick, and 2 people could split it!
Here's what our sample meal looked like:
As you can see that T-bone is ALMOST as big as the plate! We also had a side salad and fresh baguette bread! We actually ended up with enough leftovers for 2 people (with a side salad), for another meal. When you think we really fed 4 adults (as Miss Grace ate enough steak and lobster as an adult would), it wasn't too bad, cost wise!
If you sign up to the Certified Steak and Seafood Company newsletter you can get 5% off your FIRST order! Plus follow their Facebook and Twitter pages for specials, like their Prime Rib Holiday special!
So if you're looking to make your holiday special, be sure to think about Certified Steak and Seafood Company! Our family gives them 10 stars!
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