Contemporary Swiss Steak and Green Beans with Warm Bacon Dressing

Prepared: 10/26/2018 These are forever recipes.

Both recipes are from Bon Appetit but only the Green Bean recipe shows the date: September 1995. This will make the 3rd time I have made the Swiss Steak and the second time I made the green beans. Here are some notes I took the last time:

“I know I have fixed this before but it was so long ago, I have no other memory than the name. I imagine I fixed it while my son was growing up as a family meal. It must have been good because it is in “the box” where I keep successfully prepared yummy recipes. I remember it because I have always been drawn to the name. So here goes the 2014 version.

I have all the ingredients except the fresh parsley for garnish which I forgot to buy. And I really wish I had read the little blurb at the top of the recipe where it suggests a dessert of freshly baked peak of the season pears and freshly whipped cream—sounds very good. The only thing I found odd in the recipe was an dried herb called savory, I got some it reminded me of woody version of rosemary.

I am also making the Green Bean recipe that fell out of the box with the steak recipe especially since the blurb reads serve with green beans and mashed potatoes. In 2014 I used pancetta in place of bacon, as I love those precut little cubes that come already packaged." Did not write a single word about how the meal turned out—must of been good because it was still in “the box”.

In 2018 I made this while my mom was in town, this time we made the swiss steak in the crock pot, made mashed potatoes, the green beans and even gave baking pears a try. I will put this in “the box” forever, and I will also be doing the crock pot version. This is a simple delicious dinner.

The green bean recipe goes back in to the box again as well but it needs way more warm bacon dressing, the amount called for in the recipe-you can barely taste the vinegar, it is very stingy.

With that little tweak the tartness of the beans will perfectly off set the richness of the meat. DO NOT ask for a recipe for basic mashed potatoes, I just make them. Boiled potatoes, salt, milk, and butter.

As for the pears, something went wrong. We didn’t eat them right away for dessert but kept them in the aluminum baking dish I cooked them in over night—they had a very tinny unpleasant taste, inedible. So next time I will look for an actual recipe and bake in a glass casserole dish.

Contemporary Swiss Steak

Serve with green beans and mashed potatoes, followed by freshly baked peak of the season pears and whipped cream.

4 servings

3 tablespoons all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 pound cubed steak, cut into four pieces

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 large onion, thinly sliced

1 large celery stalk, sliced

1 medium carrot, very thinly sliced

1 large garlic clove, minced

1 14.5 oz can stewed tomatoes

1/2 cup dry red wine

1 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled

1 teaspoon dried savory, crumbled (I omitted this in my 2018 version, even though what I bought before was still in my spice drawer.)

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

 

Combine flour, salt and pepper in a shallow dish. (I do not measure and I put everything in a plastic bag.) Dredge both sides of steak pieces lightly in the flour mixture. (Drop steak pieces in bag and shake to coat.) Reserve the remaining flour.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a heavy large skillet over high heat. (I think it goes without saying but I so do not measure oil for the pan). Unless you can fit your steak in the skillet so that nothing touches please follow this recipe and cook in 2 batches. A couple minutes on each side to allow the steak to brown. Transfer to plate (better yet transfer to crock pot).

Add remaining 2 tablespoons of oil to the skillet (or simply add more without measuring). Reduce the heat to medium.  Add the onion, celery, and carrot ( I cut mine into thicker chunks as I was making this in my crock pot.) Cover and cook until tender, about 8 minutes. Add the reserved flour and the garlic. (If you did not measure your dredging mixture you may have too much to just stir in — add some, you can always add more later if needed for thickening.) Stir into vegetables until you can't see the flour anymore. Stir constantly. Add the can of tomatoes (I just used canned tiny diced tomatoes not stewed because thats what I had on hand), the wine, oregano and savory (if using, I did not).

If doing the original stove top version:  Return steaks and accumulated juices to skillet, spooning vegetables over. Bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low. Cover skillet and cook until steak is tender, about 10 minutes. Uncover skillet and simmer 2 minutes for gravy to thicken. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to platter and garnish with parsley.

If using crock pot: Cook the vegetable mixture until gravy starts to have depth then add to the crock pot on top of the meat. Cook a couple of hours, starting on high then reducing to low, until steak is fall apart tender.

 

Green Beans with Warm Bacon Dressing

While it is especially good with meatloaf, this vegetable will also do wonders for chicken or roast beef. (It is excellent on the side of Contemporary Swiss Steak)

2 servings, can be doubled

As I said, this dish needs more dressing than what the recipe calls for so, I will give both the recipe as it originally appeared in Bon Appetit and the extra dressing I plan to make next time in parenthesis. 

1/2 pound green beans, trimmed, cut into 2” lengths 

2 (4) bacon slices

1 tablespoon chopped shallot  (3TBS)

2 teaspoons white wine vinegar (2TBS)

Cook green beans in large pot of boiling salted water until tender about 8 minutes. Drain. Transfer to shallow bowl.

Meanwhile, cook bacon in medium skillet over medium heat until crisp. Place cooked bacon on paper towel. Add shallot to the bacon drippings in skillet and sauté for about 30 seconds, (lets call this slightly softened but not brown). Remove from heat and cool slightly, stir in vinegar. Season warm dressing to taste with salt and pepper. Pour dressing over green beans and toss to coat. Crumble bacon over top.

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Hi! I'm Debbie. Here at Categorically Well-Read I give an extra layer to the reading life. Learn more about me, check out my current category of books, submit your own suggestion, or check out my latest post.