In the late summer and early fall, the weather is perfect for spending time outdoors. The last thing most of your customers want to do is spend hours cooking! Customers also want to save money by utilizing leftovers. Research shows beef demand is highly dependent on convenience and nutrition; so give your customers exactly what they’re looking for while helping them save time and money.
Show customers they can cook once and have enough beef for two meals. Give them recipes from the Beef It’s What’s For Dinner “Grill Once Dine Twice” section. Grilling a couple extra steaks while cooking dinner can make preparation for breakfast and lunch the next day a breeze!
Suggest recipe pairs for dinner and breakfast or dinner and lunch.
Here are a few examples:
1. Prepare the Pepper Beef Steak with Garlic-Cilantro Butter and have the Breakfast Beef Burritos (pictured on left) for breakfast the next day. Both recipes use beef round tip center steaks. Prepare 8 oz. extra when cooking for the pepper beef steak, and you’ll be that much closer to a delicious breakfast!
2. Cook two pounds of beef round tip steaks. Use one pound for a delicious Sesame Soy Beef Stir-Fry dinner and the other pound for a lunch of Beef Taco Wraps.
Teach Customers about Food Safety for Leftovers
Food safety is important to keep in mind when utilizing leftovers. The way food is stored, the time and temperature it reaches and the way it is served are all important to ensure food safety.
Here are a few tips to pass along to your customers:
- Keep cold foods cold and hot foods hot. If you’re serving a buffet, you can keep cold foods on ice to maintain a temperature below 40°F, and keep hot foods on a hot plate or sterno flame to ensure internal temperatures stay above 140°F.
- As soon as your meal is over or within two hours (whichever comes first), place leftover food in the refrigerator. Allow hot or warm leftovers to cool in the fridge, not at room temperature.
- Divide large amounts of leftovers into small portions. The smaller size will not only be convenient for leftovers, but shallow containers will allow for quick chilling.
- Any leftovers should be covered, refrigerated and eaten within 3 to 4 days – or frozen up to 3 months. Reheat to 165°F throughout. Stir foods during reheating to be sure that all the food reaches the appropriate temperature.
- When in doubt, throw it out. Never taste leftover food that looks or smells strange.
View the Food Safety page for more information and tips. The Beef Training Camp module on Food Safety also includes important information you can pass on to your customers.
Source: The Beef Checkoff
