Swiss Steak with peppers and onions

Today is my mother, Barbara Ham Stephen’s, birthday. She would be 73 today, but she died from lung cancer at 66, Aug. 17, 2002. I woke up thinking about this today so I thought it would be a fitting tribute to her, to write about one of her famous main dishes: swiss steak. There is no recipe card for this dish; I watched her make it many times and I still make this from memory, as is the case with many family dishes. I recall that she loved to make this for my grandparents who visited us from Charlotte, NC, Viola and John Stephens. Grandaddy John requested swiss steak in fact, before he even arrived!

From memory, and many years of making it myself for my own family, here is how I make ….

Swiss Steak with Peppers and Onions

Cubed (tenderized) round beef steak, about 11/2 pounds
Plain flour, about a half a cup, seasoned with generous dashes (1tsp) of garlic powder, salt, pepper, and paprika. Sometimes I add some crushed red pepper.
Equal parts of vegetable oil and olive oil , into a non stick skillet, enough to cover the bottom of a pan to about a ½ inch thickness.

Dredge the cubed steak into the dry mixture of flour and spices. Shake off the excess flour and then add to the heated pan of oil, to brown. This usually takes about 5 minutes of cooking time for each piece and I usually have to cook this in two batches, adding a small bit of oil in between, to get all of the steak browned. I rest this on a platter after it browns, leaving the oil in the pan.

Add to the oil: half a green pepper, half an onion, and sauté until translucent, which takes another 3-5 minutes. While this is browning, mix about a cup of hot water in a jar with about 2 tblsp. flour. Put the lid on and shake it until all the flour is dissolved into the water, then add this to the hot/warm pan of oil and browned bits of leftover steak. Immediately stir with a wisk or spoon adding the water/flour mixture in a drizzle as you stir. This should make a wonderful brown gravy. Last, add a can of diced or stewed tomatoes (14oz.) to the gravy, then season to taste with a bit more salt, pepper, and garlic.

If the skillet you used is large enough, add the steak back in, at this point and turn the stove to simmer. It will be ready in 15-20 minutes. I found over time, that I like this dish better when it simmers longer, so I now put the finished mixture into a crockpot for about an hour, if time allows, on the lowest setting.

My family has always served this with either mashed potatoes or rice.