Prep Time: About 15 minutes
Cook time: About 8 minutes
Serves 4

1 green apple

1 carrot

1/4 cup low-fat buttermilk

1/4 tsp. cumin

1 tablespoon honey

3 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

2 scallions, thinly sliced

Juice from 1/2 lime

Pinch salt

1 pound Meyer Natural Angus Ground Beef

3 ounces brie cheese

4 rolls

1. Wash green apple and slice it into matchsticks. Grate one carrot. Mix apple and carrot in bowl with buttermilk, cumin, honey, cilantro, scallions, lime and salt. Set aside.

2. Shape ground beef into 4 burgers and cook to desired degree of doneness. When ready to serve, top each burger with 3/4 ounce brie and about 1/2 cup slaw. (If you can’t get the entire 1/2 cup on the burger, serve remaining slaw on side). Serve burgers with or without burger rolls.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour
Serves 8

1 medium onion, roughly chopped

1 red pepper, seeded and cored, then roughly chopped

2 carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces

2 celery stalks, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 teaspoon oil

1 teaspoon cumin

2 teaspoons beef bouillon paste or 2 cubes beef bouillon

2 pounds Meyer Natural Angus ground beef

1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs

1/4 cup tomato sauce

1 egg

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1.5 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1. Heat oven to 325°F. Place onion, red pepper, carrots and celery into food processor and pulse until vegetables are finely chopped.

2. Heat oil in non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chopped vegetables and cumin to skillet. Cook, stirring often, until softened and any liquid has evaporated. Add bouillon paste or cubes, and stir until completely dissolved. Remove from heat and cool 10 minutes.

3. While vegetables cool, place ground beef in bowl with bread crumbs, tomato sauce, egg, tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce. Add cooled vegetables to bowl and mix to combine well.

4. Shape mixture into 2 loaves about 8 inches long and 4 inches wide. Place in glass baking dish and bake 1 hour (until internal temperature is 160°F). Remove, cool about 5 minutes. Slice and serve.

Prep time: About 10 minutes
Cook time: About 15 minutes
Serves 4

2 (6-ounce) Meyer Natural Angus Top Sirloin Steaks

4 tablespoons mayonnaise

1/2 avocado

4 (2-ounce) rolls

2 ounces horseradish cheddar, grated

2 teaspoons butter

2 small tomatoes, thinly sliced

1. Heat sandwich press. Grill steak to desired degree of doneness. Let rest. Cut steak into slices 1/8 inch thick.

2. Mix mayonnaise with avocado using a fork, smashing avocado into the mayo, but leaving some chunks.

3. Cut 4 rolls open. Top each with about 3 ounces steak, 1/2 ounce of the horseradish cheddar and 1 tablespoon of the avocado mayo. Close rolls and spread about 1/4 teaspoon butter on top and bottom of each roll. Place filled rolls into sandwich press and close.

4. Grill until cheese is melted and bread is crisp and golden. Open each sandwich and top with sliced tomato. Serve immediately.

Prep time: About 10 minutes
Cook time: 15 to 20 minutes (work on steak while potatoes are cooking)
Serves 2

For the potatoes:

1 large baking potato diced into small (1/4-inch) cubes

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon curry powder

1 small tomato, diced

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Salt and pepper to taste

1 (14-ounce) Meyer Boneless Strip Steak

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon packed brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon cocoa powder (unsweetened)

Salt to taste

1 teaspoon oil

1 teaspoon butter

1. Place diced potato into large, non-stick skillet (use one large enough to have potatoes in just about one layer; water will boil away more quickly, which is what you want). Add water just to cover. Stir in cumin and curry powder. Bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and allow water to boil away. Once water is gone, stir in tomato. Remove from heat and add cilantro. Season to taste.

2. While potatoes are cooking, prepare steak. Pat steak dry with paper towel. Mix cumin, sugar, garlic, cocoa powder and salt in small bowl. Rub spice mixture onto both sides of steak.

4. Heat oil and butter in cast-iron skillet over high heat until almost smoking. Place steak in skillet and cook 4 minutes each side to medium (or cook to desired degree of doneness).

5. Remove steak from skillet and let rest 5 minutes. To serve, place potatoes on platter and place steak on top of potatoes. Slice to serve.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Serves 4

1/2 cup orange juice

3 tablespoons soy sauce

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

2 tablespoons mango chutney

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped

1 tablespoon oil

2 (10-ounce) Meyer Natural Angus Ribeye Steaks

Salt and pepper to taste

Thinly sliced orange peel for garnish

grating ginger on a Microplane grater

1. Mix orange juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, chutney and rosemary together in a saucepan. Bring to boil over medium-high heat. Reduce to simmer and cook 5 minutes until reduced by about half and thickened. Remove from heat.

2. While glaze reduces, heat oil in cast-iron skillet over high heat until oil is almost smoking. Season steaks with salt and pepper to taste. Cook 4 minutes each side for medium-rare. 1 minute before steaks are done, add glaze to skillet.

3. Remove steaks from skillet, pouring any remaining glaze over steaks on serving platter. Let rest 5 minutes before serving. To serve, garnish with finely sliced orange peel.

Tip: To grate ginger, peel a piece of fresh ginger root and use Microplane™ grater to grate ginger directly into bowl or saucepan.

Prep time: 10 minutes (plus time for marinating)
Cook time: 25 minutes
Serves 4

4 (6-ounce) Meyer Natural Angus Sirloin Steaks

1 inch fresh ginger root, peeled

3 large cloves garlic, peeled

1 small onion, peeled and quartered

1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 teaspoons sesame oil

Juice of 1 lemon

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 cup fresh cilantro

1. Slice steaks on the diagonal into eight rounds or medallions. Place steak into baking dish or pan.

2. Place ginger, garlic, onion, jalapeno, olive oil, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, lemon juice, honey and cilantro into a blender. Pulse to chop the pieces up, then turn on high to blend into a paste.

3. Reserve 1/2 cup of the marinade. Pour remaining marinade over steaks, turning to coat steaks. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight. (Refrigerate reserved marinade as well.)

4. To cook, heat oven to 375°F. Remove reserved marinade and steaks from refrigerator while oven heats. If steaks are marinating in baking dish or pan, they can go straight into the hot oven. Bake for about 25 minutes or to desired degree of doneness. Serve immediately, passing with the reserved marinade.

Serving suggestion: Pairs nicely with basmati rice.

4 (5-ounce) Meyer Filet Mignon steaks

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon finely chopped onion or shallot

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

3/4 cup good red wine

2 tablespoons butter

1. Pat steaks dry with paper towel and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in cast-iron skillet over high heat until oil shimmers. Place steaks in skillet and cook to desired degree of doneness, turning once during cooking time. Remove to plate and cover to keep warm while making sauce.

2. Add onion to skillet and cook briefly, stirring onion to keep it from burning. Add vinegar and reduce briefly (stand back as you add this; it can really make you tear up). Add wine and scrape bottom of skillet, getting up any good, browned bits from the skillet. Bring to boil. Reduce slightly and let wine reduce to about 1/3 cup.

3. Remove skillet from heat, add butter and swirl into red wine, whisking if necessary, to incorporate butter into wine, making wine sauce.

4. Pour over steaks and serve immediately.

Prep time: about 20 minutes
Cook time: About 10 minutes for the apples and pears, 8 to 10 minutes for the steaks
Serves: 4

1 tablespoon butter

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 granny smith apple, cored, peeled and cut into chunks

1 pear, cored, peeled and cut into chunks

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

1 tablespoon sage, chopped

1/2 cup dry white wine, divided

1/2 cup apple cider

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 pound Meyer Natural Angus Ribeye (substitute with tenderloin or sirloin steaks, if preferred)

1 ounce blue cheese

1 ounce pecans

1. Melt butter in large, non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Add onion and season with salt and pepper; cook until soft, about 4 minutes. Add apple, pear and ginger and cook until the fruit starts to turn golden a bit. Stir in the sage, then deglaze the pan with 1/4 cup of wine. Add cider. Bring to boil and simmer until reduced by about half. Remove from heat and keep warm.

2. Heat oil in cast-iron skillet. While oil heats, pat steaks dry with a paper towel and season with salt and pepper. When oil is almost smoking, add steaks and cook to desired degree of doneness, turning once.

3. While steak cooks, chop blue cheese together with pecans to get a crumbling mixture. Set aside.

4. When steaks are done, remove to platter to keep warm. Deglaze skillet with remaining white wine, scraping up any brown bits from the skillet. Pour this into the onion, apple, pear skillet. Mix well.

5. To serve, spoon some of the onion/fruit mixture onto a platter. Place steaks on this, then top steaks with remaining onion/fruit mixture, spooning any sauce over all. Top all with blue cheese/pecan combo, and garnish platter with whole sage leaves. Serve immediately.

In the middle of September we were pre-conditioning our calves, which means we were giving them their vaccination shots before weaning time as we will wean sometime mid October. Pre-conditioning entails bringing the cows and calves into the corral, sorting the calves from the cows and then running the calves through the chute where they get shots, wormed and recorded in our system so we know that they were worked. The H-E-B employees jumped right in helping us sort, working the ally to get the calves into the chute, giving the calves wormer and then 3 of the H-E-B guys Shawn, Joe and Mark even stayed and helped us tear everything down and set it all up again at the next set of corrals, as we had several more groups of calves to work. This was definitely above and beyond what most ranch guests would do. Now they have a better understanding of what it takes to raise the animals in the Meyer program.

Bringing cows to corral

Meyer Natural Angus cattle

Ranchers on horseback

H-E-B watching cattle being sorted

Cattle sorting

Cattle sorting

H-E-B sorting cows from calves

Cattle sorting

Sorting cattle

H-E-B making sure cows didn't get in with calves

Mark, Shawn and Joe - the ranch hands for a day

Prep time: About 10 minutes
Cook time: About 5 minutes (depending on desired degree of doneness)
Serves: 4

1 pound Ribeye steak, cut into small cubes

1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes (drained of most of the oil), oil saved for brushing onto skewers

1/4 cup slivered almonds

1 clove garlic

1/4 cup cilantro

2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

1 package pre-cooked polenta (I used sun-dried tomato polenta)

1. Heat grill to medium high. Skewer the steak cubes onto 4 bamboo skewers and brush with olive oil from tomatoes.

2. Place tomatoes, almonds, garlic, cilantro and Parmesan cheese into container and use stick blender to blend into paste.

3. Slice polenta into rounds and brush with extra oil from the tomatoes.

4. Grill skewered beef to desired degree of doneness. About 3 minutes before beef is done, spread pesto onto beef cubes. Turn skewers once more to finish cooking.

5. Place polenta rounds on grill and grill, turning once, until hot.

6. Remove skewers and polenta from grill and serve immediately.