The uniqueness of the meat requires chefs to cook it much differently than beef. The lack of fat, or "marbling", throughout the muscle tissue can cause the meat to be tough and hard to chew if overcooked at a high temperature. Henderson believes the ideal internal temperature for Randall Lineback meat is 130 degrees, which is slightly cooler that medium-rare.

"It's perfect," boasts Henderson. "You will love it, I guarantee it. If you try it, you will decree it is the best tasting meat you've ever had."

Armstrong agrees, "When you look at USDA Prime and it has that intramuscular fat bred into it, that melts in your mouth. This meat does not melt in your mouth. You have to chew it, make sure you cut it into smaller pieces than you typically would with a bigger steak. But it does have a long, long, lingering delicious flavor."

Is it a flavor will people around the country will come to enjoy? Henderson is working on that part. He knows full well that he cannot be the breed's only significant steward and in order for it to survive and flourish, the demand for Randall Lineback meat must extend beyond the Capital Beltway.

"We have some excellent chefs in Washington. We have some excellent chefs in Philadelphia. We need to go to New York and knock on some doors and find the right couple of chefs or the restaurateur that thinks this is important, that's it's important to keep a tradition of cooking alive and that you have a level of cuisine that is so far superior to the steakhouse routine. If you do that, you save the animal, you save the cuisine, you save it all," says Henderson.

He has already convinced chef Brad Spence of the Vetri restaurant group in Philadelphia to start buying Randall Lineback meat. And Henderson hopes a spark in demand creates a burning desire for other farmers to start raising the Linebacks.

"Ideally what you'd like to have is a satellite herd here, a satellite herd that serves New York, a satellite herd maybe up around Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, five, six, seven herd and then you save the breed," explains Henderson.

Unfortunately, Henderson has been unable to supply demand down south in cities like New Orleans. The distance is too great for delivery and because the Randall Linebacks cannot handle hot climates, a satellite herd in the South would not work.

But, he says he has a friend in Alabama who raises Pineywoods cattle, another endangered breed, and sells that meat to chefs in Louisiana and other southern stops.

For now, though, Henderson will keep focus on sustaining his herd of rare Randall Linebacks...and maybe finding a better way to describe them.

"If you raise them right, you slaughter them right, you treat them right and you have chefs who are good chefs, they are the best tasting, 'we don't know what to call it' in the world."