Family Favorites...Swiss Steak with Chili Sauce

 Made a variation on Swiss Steak for supper tonight. None of us are very fond of the traditional Swiss steak with tomatoes. This recipe calling for Chili Sauce instead of tomatoes looked interesting and I have always had good luck with the Farm Journal Country Cookbook. 

  I did alter the recipe a little as I used cubed steak instead of tenderized round steak. Also, while we all like green pepper, none of us digests it well anymore, so left it out. The chili sauce is spicy enough that we didn’t notice the difference, If you have home canned chili sauce this would be a good recipe to use it in. I made the full amount planning on left overs for lunches; this does make a lot, so you might want to size it down.

  I did it in my trusty deep pan with a good fitting lid, though I think you could use a crock pot if you wanted to. By using the cubed steak, I cut the cooking time to 45 minutes and that was a good cooking time. Serve with rice to soak up the sauce and you have a great dish.

 Swiss Steak

6 tablespoons flour

2 teaspoons salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

2 pounds round steak, 1” thick

4 medium onions

6 tablespoons shortening (or oil)

½ cup chopped celery

1 clove garlic minced

¾ cup chili sauce

34 cup water

1 green pepper (optional)

  Combine flour, salt and pepper; rub into both sides of steak or pound in with meat mallet or edge of heavy plate. (If using cube steak, just flour).

Cut into 6 serving portions. 

  Peel and slice onions. Preheat skillet, add half of the shortening, then onions; brown lightly. Remove from skillet. Add as much of the remaining shortening as you need and brown steak on both sides. Reduce heat.

  Add celery, garlic, chili sauce and water. Cover; simmer 1 hour.

  If using, cut green pepper into slices. Add pepper and onions to meat. Continue cooking 30 minutes or until meat is tender. Makes 6 servings.

* Here is where I changed directions, as I added the celery, and pepper if using with the onion, , and then cooked everything 45 minutes total, this worked well and cut my kitchen time.