Church Cookbook Classics: Mary’s Swiss Steak

It is a snowy Sunday afternoon in mid-March, my husband is asleep on the couch pretending to watch an old movie on TCM and I am having a glass of red wine and savoring the smell of Swiss Steak roasting in the oven.  (It IS after 5:00!) Winter has reminded us that March in Iowa is a big tease.  One minute it is 60 degrees and you are itching to get in the garden and the next it drops 40 degrees and you have a snow storm.  I am yearning for summer foods and grilling, but there is something comforting about the smell of a warm oven meal wafting through the house on a snowy afternoon.

I am not sure if we Scandinavian Iowans really know what a Swiss Steak is — we just think we know what it is.  This version is mine based on multiple recipes in my extensive collection of church cookbooks, which just got bigger.  My husband came home from an auction yesterday with a flat full of more church cookbooks — what a guy!   But I regress, I can’t claim this recipe is authentic but it is a winner at our house and a great one-pot oven dinner.   I prefer to make it low and slow in the oven letting the veggies caramelize, but  it is also excellent in the crock-pot.

I’d like to do a shout out to a farmer, blogger friend, Laura at SkyView Farms— I recently purchased an eighth of a cow, about 110 pounds of beef from Laura and it has been excellent!  So look for some more Iowa beef recipes — can’t wait to start grilling those steaks!

Church Cookbook Classics: Mary's Swiss Steak

 

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Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

90 mins

Total time

2 hours

 

An oven version of savory Swiss Steak -- an easy oven meal.

Author: Mary and the Church Ladies

Recipe type: Entree

Cuisine: Swiss/American

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1 pound Round Steak -- I prefer it tenderized
• Salt and Pepper
• 2 TBS olive oil (or your choice)
• 1 small onion thinly sliced pole to pole
• ⅛ to ¼ cup diced green peppers (optional)
• ⅛ to ¼ cup diced red peppers (optional)
• 2 large potatoes diced in 3-inch pieces
• 4 large carrots diagonally sliced in 2-inch pieces (more -- I love lots of carrots)
• ½ package Lipton Dry Onion Soup Mix (Optional entire package & ½ cup water)
• 1 can diced tomatoes

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
2. Cut Round Steak into 4 equal portions (4 oz. each)
3. Lightly salt and pepper steaks -- I prefer Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper
4. Brown steak portions in a hot Dutch oven with a small portion of oil
5. Remove Steaks from Dutch oven when browned on each side
6. Slice onion pole to pole
7. Dice green and red peppers into fine dice (optional)
8. Lightly saute onions and peppers in a Dutch oven
9. Remove or move onions and peppers to the side and add back the steaks -- cover with onions and peppers
10. Sprinkle steaks, and onion/peppers with ¼ of the package of Lipton Onion Soup Mix
11. Cover with the can of diced tomatoes
12. Arrange Potatoes and Carrots around the edges of the Dutch oven on top of the steaks
13. Sprinkle the remainder of the Lipton Soup Mixture on top of everything
14. Bake for 1½ to 2 hours at 325 degrees
15. You can turn this down and keep it over for some time -- add water if it dries out.

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–Mary