Swiss Steak

[Shamanjoe]

I tried a version of Swiss Steak the other day with a couple or nice ribeye steaks that were a little past their prime. I followed very generally the Alton Brown recipe from Good Eats, lightly breading the steaks and frying them on both sides, then letting them rest while browning some onions, celery and chopped baby peppers (the peppers were my addition). Then I added some pureed tomatos (I had a bunch, so I threw a few in the blender) as well as chopped tomatos. A handfull of dried spices (smoked paprika, oregano, basil) and some freshly picked rosemary from the garden all went in the pot, and I added the steaks back in, carefull to get them submerged and in full contact with the liquid.

Into the oven in my cast iron dutch oven at 325 F for a couple hours. The meat came out super soft and tender, practically falling apart, and the vegetables made a rich and flavourfull sauce that I just loved. The problem though is that the meat, while having a great texture, didn't absorb much of the flavour from the sauce. The long cooking process does wonders for the texture, but it killed the flavour. Is there a different cut of meat that would stand up to the time or absorb more of the flavour during cooking?

I used the ribeyes because they needed to be cooked, and I wanted swiss steak, but I'd like to do better next time.

edited to make the font better..

Edited April 4, 2010 by Shamanjoe (log)

[ray goud]

What do you mean by "a little past their prime"? They were in danger of lurking bacteria, or what? Usually older beef is more tender.

When I want to cook beef that long I go for boneless beef ribs. They can be kitchen cut to whatever shape one wants, or not. I don't know how available they are in general, but my butcher carries them regularly.

Ray

[Holly Moore]

I understand why you used the rib steaks, but still cringe. You'd probably get better flavor from top or bottom round, or rump steaks.

Also it appears you used fresh rather than canned tomatoes. This time of year especially, you'd probably get better flavor from canned tomatoes. I see you're in California. Perhaps there, tomatoes are full of flavor year round.

Haven't had swiss steak for years. Now I'm craving some.

[Shalmanese]

Rib eye steaks should be cooked short & fast. They have relatively a lot of flavor for a tender cut but still not that much compared to braising cuts. The classic cut for swiss steak is the round but you could also use brisket or chuck steaks.

[Shamanjoe]

Ray - I bought the steaks fresh from the butcher and they got pushed back in the fridge, still wrapped in their butcher paper, for about a week. I usually like my Ribeye rare, done on the grill over high heat (like Shalmanese suggests) with salt and pepper as the only seasoning, but after they had been in the fridge wrapped like that, I felt some longer cooking was in order.

Holly - The tomatos were from Peru or something like that, the brother-in-law bought a flat of beefsteak-looking tomatos from CostCo that needed to be used up before they went south. The flavour of the tomatos was good enough for the dish, but they didn't flavour the meat as much as I wanted them to.

Shalmanese - My butcher has nice-looking chuck steaks. I'll have to try some for this dish. Have you tried buying a chuck roast and slicing it yourself? I'm thinking it would be cheaper to buy the whole roast and either cut it myself, or have the butcher cut it for me (if he's not too busy).