Say hello to Mr. Tough guy.

Posted by Michael on Oct 15, 2010 in Recipes | 0 comments

Cheap beef.  Cheap, magical beef. Cheap and tough as leather.

People that know their beef know that some of the best stuff is some of the cheapest.  The “simmering” steaks, blade steaks, shanks and ox tails that the hoity-toitys pass up are some of the best tasting cuts of cow.   It’s almost laughable that the tenderloin is among the most expensive of cuts.  $17 a pound for almost no flavour.  No thanks.

Anyway, a few days ago I was chatting with a pack of weirdos, sorry, musicians at www.giraffecycle.com about cheap beef and what can be done with it.  I suggested Swiss steak, a dish I grew up with and still love.  I hadn’t made it in a while but remembered I had two cheap cuts of beef shank in my freezer that would be ideal candidates for the slow, flavourful braising that happens in Swiss steak.

Basically the idea is to season a piece of tough beef and flour it, then fry to create a flavourful crust, and finally add an herb-and-spiced tomato sauce to braise until the meat is fork tender.  Simple comfort food and just delicious.  I had a look on Google for Swiss steak recipes and many of them I found kind of boring.  Some were as simple as just beef, tomato and onion.  Geez!  Jazz it up!  I like herbs such as thyme and rosemary in mine, both great in a tomato sauce.  You can further crank it up with a little worcestershire sauce and if you have it, a little sherry, wine or even sake.  Just something to elevate it a bit.

This dish is most often slowly braised in a good pan such as a cast iron pan, but I’ve also had excellent, fast results with a pressure cooker.  Be careful about making sure there’s enough water in the pressure cooker so nothing burns on the bottom and you’ll have an all-day-braising dish like this ready in 40 minutes or so.  Fast food!

And how cheap is it?  The steak pictured was a hefty portion that set me back $2.17.  Paired up with some local carrots and potato and sauced with late-season local tomatoes, I’d estimate the dish probably cost in the neighbourhood of $3.25 or so.   This is a dish that could easily feed a family of four for under $10.  Try that at McDonald’s.  Actually, don’t.

In any case, here’s my version.  I’ve never been to Switzerland.

Swiss Steak

1 or two servings of tough ass steak like shank or round.

salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

a bit of all purpose flour for dusting

2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil

4 cloves garlic, chopped ((or more or less, whatever you like))

1 medium yellow onion, chopped fine

4 or 5 tomatoes (you can use a prepared tomato sauce but I’ll definitely think less of you), stewed and pureed or passed through a food mill, about two cups sauce

Good pinch each of dried thyme and rosemary

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

2 or 3 or 4 tablespoons sherry, sake, cooking wine or red wine, whatever you prefer

water as needed

Season the steak with salt and pepper then dust lightly with flour.  Pre-heat your fry pan (or pressure cooker if using) over medium-high heat and add the cooking oil.  Carefully add the steaks and fry well on both sides until it has a deep brown crust.   Move the steaks aside (or remove from pan if there’s no room).  Add a bit more oil, then the onions.  Reduce heat to medium now and saute the onion just until they take on some colour and soften up a bit, about two or three minutes.   Add the garlic, stir fry for a moment then add the tomato sauce, herbs, Worcestershire and flavouring wine.  Mix well and add a bit of water to loosen it up.   Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low.  Let it braise for two hours or more, turning the steaks over occasionally and adding water if it gets too thick or starts to stick to the pan.   If using a pressure cooker, add a good cup or more of water and pressure cook for 40 minutes at low to medium low heat.  Release the pressure and check it half way through if necessary.   Once pressure cooked, you can just simmer it uncovered on the stove until the sauce consistency is what you’d like.  Serve with simple boiled or roasted vegetables or with rice.   I like something fresh and crisp to garnish such as a chopped green onion.  Some chopped fresh tomato might also be nice.