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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   Save Print Prep time 30 mins Cook time 90 mins Total time 2 hours  ...