Swiss Steak with Tomato Gravy (121 of 150)

Swiss steak is a curiosity to me. It has all the ingredients I like (minus sun dried tomatoes), but where does it come from? I never had it as a kid - though it very much feels like a 70's type of meal. 

So I sent to the interwebs and I found this: 

"The recipe for Swiss steak first appeared in print in England in 1915. Sylvia Lovegren's book, “Fashionable Food: Seven Decades of Food Fads,” notes the recipe appeared in print in the United States in 1924. It wasn't until the 1940s that the recipe appeared in multiple cookbooks."

and this

"Tough cuts of beef, like bottom round, top round, and chuck, go through a mechanical tenderizer, or a swissing machine, and come out the other end with cube-shaped indentations (hence it's other name, cube steak)."

and then finally this: 

"Swiss steak is a dish of meat, usually beef, that is swissed by rolling or pounding before being braised in a cooking pot of stewed vegetables and seasonings. It is often served with gravy. It is made either on a stove or in an oven, and does not get its name from Switzerland, as the name suggests, but the technique of tenderizing by pounding or rolling called "swissing".

 I guess at the end of the day it's just a way to serve really tough meat. Got it. 

This recipe was delicious! It had a nice tomato-y flavor, but not overly so. The braising really makes the meat so tender (I used cube steak for this - because that's what I had in the freezer.)

I'd make this again. It'd be a nice cool fall or winter day.

Swiss Steak with Tomato Gravy

Recipe from Cook's Country

Serves 6

1 (3 1/2-to 4-pound) boneless top blade roast (see note)

Salt and pepper

2 T vegetable oil

1 onion, halved and sliced thin

3 garlic cloves, minced

½ tsp dried thyme

2 T tomato paste

1 T all-purpose flour

1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes

1 ½ c low-sodium chicken broth

1 T sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, rinsed, patted dry, and minced

1 T finely chopped fresh parsley

BUTCHER ROAST Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Cut roast crosswise into quarters and remove line of gristle to yield 8 steaks.

Pat steaks dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat just until smoking. Brown 4 steaks, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to plate and repeat with remaining oil and steaks.

Add onion to empty pot and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, thyme, tomato paste, and flour and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in diced tomatoes and broth and bring to boil.

Return steaks and any accumulated juices to pan. Transfer to oven and braise, covered, until steaks are fork-tender, about 2 hours. Transfer steaks to platter, tent with foil, and let rest 5 minutes. Skim fat from sauce. Stir in sun-dried tomatoes and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Pour sauce over steaks. Serve.