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Swiss Steak
The steak should be cut at least 2 inches thick. Use 1/2 cup flour for a slice of meat weighing 2 pounds and mix well with salt and pepper. Pound flour thoroughly into meat with a wooden potato masher, or the edge of a heavy plate. Heat 1/4 cup of fat, strained from ham or bacon, and brown meat on each side in this fat. Then add a few slices of onions and 1/2 green pepper chopped fine, 2 cups of boiling water or part strained tomato. Cover closely and let simmer 2 hours, or cook in a casserole in the oven. Swiss steak may be cooked without any liquid if preferred, as its own moisture is sufficient. The onion may be omitted or other vegetables added as desired.
Swiss steak is popular throughout the cattle country, wherever folks are still able to eat steaks two inches thick without going bankrupt. And incidentally, out West an individual sirloin weighs a full pound and even a slice of boiled ham still weighs at least 1/4 pound, while in the effete East it has shrunk to about 1/4 ounce, or is merely blown on a bun in the form of paste.
A braise dressed as a steak recipe: the pounding and the long wet cooking are what make a tough cut tender, and neither step can be shortened.
- What cut to buySwiss steak is usually made from round steak — top or bottom round, or a thick chuck slice. A tender cut would be wasted here and would go stringy over two hours. The recipe asks for a single slice at least 2 inches thick, rather than the thin pre-cut "Swiss steak" packages.
- The pounding is the point"Swiss" here is generally thought to refer to swissing, the mechanical tenderizing of meat, rather than to Switzerland, though the derivation is not firmly documented. Driving the seasoned flour into the surface with a mallet, a potato masher or the rim of a heavy plate helps break down the meat's structure and gives the gravy its body. Do it until the meat has visibly spread and thinned.
- Ham or bacon fatA quarter cup of strained bacon drippings is authentic and adds real flavor. Any high-smoke-point fat works; if using bacon fat, note it is already salty and season the flour accordingly.
- "A casserole in the oven"Read as a covered, heavy, oven-safe pot. The recipe gives no oven temperature; a moderate oven of around 325F for the stated two hours will hold the liquid at a bare bubble. Stovetop, keep it at the faintest simmer with the lid on tight.
- The no-liquid versionCooking it dry works only in a genuinely heavy pot with a close-fitting lid over very low heat, and it wants checking every 20 minutes; the meat can run dry before the two hours are up. The 2 cups of water or tomato is the safer route and makes the gravy besides.
- Tomato helpsSubstituting strained tomato for part of the water adds acid and brightens what is otherwise a plain brown gravy. Canned crushed tomato or passata is a close stand-in for the strained tomato.
- DonenessIgnore any instinct about steak temperatures. It is done when a fork twists in the meat with no resistance, which may be past the two-hour mark on a thick bottom round.
- YieldA 2-pound slice serves four generously with the gravy over potatoes, rice or noodles. It reheats better than most beef dishes and is arguably improved on the second day.