Merciful God, You are great in compassion and Your tenderness for us is without measure. We ask You to give us today our daily bread, and also provide for the needs of all of Your hungry children around the world. Through Christ Your Son and Our Lord. Amen.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Baked Steak in Tangy Tomato Sauce

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I published this recipe a while ago on my other blog, but it's definitely worth re-posting. It's from one of my favorite cookbooks, Don't Panic, Dinner's in the Freezer, and while I don't make extra to freeze, as the cookbook is designed for you to do, my family loves it enough to be a regular on the menu. It's a good homey Swiss Steak sort of recipe, but the sauce is a tangy barbecue, with condensed tomato soup as the base. I know "real chefs" would turn their noses up at condensed soup, and you might be able to substitute tomato sauce or puree, but the results are all this "real-life cook" cares about. I always serve this dish with mashed potatoes, and the kids and Doug always ladle the extra sauce on top. Usually I double the sauce so there's extra for ladling. I like being able to start this meal at 4 o'clock or so for a dinner at 6 o'clock. It's nice to have that time when Doug and the older boys arrive home to not be so frantic with dinner prep.







Baked Steak with Tangy Tomato Sauce


2 lbs. round steak
½ t. salt
½ t. pepper
3 T. shortening
⅓ cup onion, chopped
⅓ cup celery, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 T. brown sugar
2 t. yellow mustard
2 T. Worcestershire sauce
2 t. lemon juice
dash Tabasco sauce
1 cup undiluted tomato soup

Tenderize steak with meat mallet.
Salt and pepper meat.
Brown meat, onion, celery and garlic in hot oil.
Add remaining ingredients and cover.
Cook for 15-20 minutes.

(To freeze: cool completely and freeze in freezer bags.
Thaw completely and continue as below.)

Bake, covered, in 350 degree oven for 1-1/2 to 2 hours or until tender.

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4 comments:

Jason Strode said...

i made this for my family but i changed it ever so slightly i used a mexican imported tomato sauce that has hot peppers in it. i baked it for 2 hours @ 350 and it turned out wonderfully. i made it several times since and we all just love it. thanks for the recipe.

Barbara said...

Jason, I'm so glad you enjoyed it. I think my husband and boys would love it with a spicy sauce! Thanks for coming back to tell me of your success! ;-)

JLC said...

Thank you so much for your blog; it is inspiring me with great menu ideas. I made this to freeze last night, and my sauce doesn't look as liquidy as yours even though I did double it. Would it be terrible to add water when I bake it so that the steak is covered? Do you have any other ideas? Thank you so much for your time and dedication to this blog!
Julia Culver
Houston, TX

Barbara said...

Julia, go right ahead and add some water when you bake it. It will condense and be gravy like (assuming it's probably gravy like now and you know it will thicken more). I think it depends on how much liquid the vegetables give off -- sometimes it might be more runny than others. So glad you are enjoying my recipes. :-)