<p>AMARILLO, Texas—If you've never seen a young woman in a staring contest with a 4 1/2-pound slab of red meat, it's a thing to behold.</p>
<p>Her nostrils flare. Her eyebrows twitch. She blinks. She exhales lightly through pursed lips. Then she picks up her serrated knife to begin sawing at her butterflied top sirloin, all 5,200-odd calories of it, cooked medium and sprawled on her dish like a catcher's mitt on home plate. For its part, the steak is impassive.</p>