Community /
Blogs
The opinions expressed in these blogs are solely those of the people who wrote them, and do not represent the views of WPSU or Penn State University.
Local Food Journey
Recipe: Swiss steak makes for a delicious “retro” meal
Posted by James Sechrengost on 09/30 at 08:22 AM
Way back when, Swiss steak was a great way for people to use inexpensive cuts of beef to make a great meal. This seemed to be mainly a Pennsylvania thing back in the day as when I got to California I never saw it on any menus. I got a hankering for it one day and made up a batch which I took to work with me for lunch the next day. When I was heating it up in the microwave, yes we had them even back then, my colleagues came wandering in to find out where that heavenly aroma was coming from.
When I showed them what it was, they were amazed that something so simple could smell so good. So I spent the day giving the recipe to my co-workers so they could try it on their own. Needless to say they changed and added things, which is exactly what the dish was meant to do. They added green chilies instead of green peppers, changed the seasoning and so forth. Here is the basic recipe so don’t be afraid to try it and make changes to suit your families tastes.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2-2 lbs. round steak cut into 1 inch cubes or you can use stew meat. I have even used cubed steak for this recipe and that works fine too.
- 1/3-1/2 cup beef broth
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 2 cans diced tomatoes
- 1/2 green pepper chopped about ½ cup
- 1/4 - 1/3 cup flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp season salt
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
Steps
- Mix flour, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper in a plastic bag.
- Add beef to flour mixture and shake to cover all the meat in flour. You’ll need to do this in batches to ensure proper coverage.
- I prefer to use a cast iron Dutch oven type pot but any heavy pot with a lid that will hold all the ingredients will work.
- Heat the oil in pot to medium high heat. You going to want to brown and put a nice crust on the meat. Again batches works great as you don’t want to crowd your meat. Make sure to brown on all sides.
- Put the meat on a platter as it is finished.
- Now reduce the heat and pour in the beef broth. You want to make sure you get all those tasty brown bits up off the bottom. Brown bits = Flavor.
- Add the meat back into the meat back into pot, cover and reduce to simmer. We want to simmer the meat until it is fork tender about an hour. Add more broth if needed.
- Mix all the other ingredients together in a bowl until all combined.
- Pour the mixture over the meat.
- Allow to simmer for another 30 minutes or so without the lid until mixture thickens. After you brown the meat this can all be added to a crockpot to be ready when you get home for dinner.
I love to have my Swiss Steak with mashed potatoes.
Author: James Sechrengost
Bio: Computer Guru | World Traveler and Foodie Extraordinaire | Member of the Been there Done that Club
Leave a Comment
Commenting is not available in this section entry. « Bakery focuses on gluten-free options for desserts, pasta Beaver Stadium VIP Tour »Most recent entries
- Our Local Food Journey comes to an end
- Wednesday, January 31, 2018
- By Jamie Oberdick in Local Food Journey
- Winter isn’t a quiet time at the farm
- Wednesday, January 31, 2018
- By James Eisenstein in Local Food Journey
- Get the taste of garden season right now by growing herbs indoors
- Friday, January 26, 2018
- By Jamie Oberdick in Local Food Journey
- All you need to know about PASA’s Farming for the Future conference
- Friday, January 19, 2018
- By Jamie Oberdick in Local Food Journey
Categories
Archives
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
NO COMMENTS