Swiss The Steak!

Swiss Steak...mmm.

Have you ever walked past the beef section in the grocery store and came across a small section of Styrofoam trays with a slab of meat on it that looked like Freddie Kruger went to town on it? I'm sure you have, and for those of you who haven't, here is what it looks like.

So what do you do to make delicious tasty, melty (is that a word) swiss steak? It's easy:

Dredge the meat in flour. Then in a heavy (dutch oven preferably) pot, brown the meat on both sides. Remove them after browned to rest. Preheat your oven to 325. Then toss in one onion sliced, 2-3 celery stalks roughly chopped, 1-3 cloves of garlic (depends on how garlicy you want the sauce), season with pepper, and let them cook for a bit.

Now crack open a can of peeled, or diced tomatoes, a small can of tomato sauce and after 4-5 minutes of cooking, toss them into the pot (carefully, don't wanna get tomato sauce all over the place). Next add a cup and a half of any liquid that is flavorful. Just do yourself a favor and don't use water. There isn't a point to it. It brings nothing but dilutes the sauce. In this instance I used a Scandinavian red wine and augmented it with 1/4 cup of red wine vinegar. Stir this up. Then put in the meat that is resting, cover, and put in your 325 degree oven for 2 hours....yes 2 hours.

I served this over garlic and sage mashed potatoes, and some corn.