**RANCH SWISS STEAK**

First, I need to start by wishing my son a Happy 11th Birthday yesterday! We had a birthday dinner for him tonight and his wish was that his Grandparents were here to celebrate it with him. His favorite food is Macaroni and Cheese, however the rest of us just can't live off of it like he does! lol.. So, I decided that I would make a great dinner for them to all come over! So, I first decided to make RANCH SWISS STEAK! Another GREAT recipe for round steak! This is the BEST way to turn an inexpensive cut of meat into a wonderful meal that everyone is going to beg for for years and years to come! This is one that does take some time and preparation, but it is soooo WELL worth it! It is simple, however, so don't let all the steps and directions scare you away! The first bite you take will prove to you that this is a worthy recipe! It becomes so tender you don't need a knife! Just cut it with your fork! :-)

My Mom started making this when I was just a little girl and it has been a family favorite ever since! I am sorry that I wasn't able to get the best pictures because we were all eating it up so quickly! But, that should tell you something!

Here it goes:

2 lbs round steak 3/4" thick
1/2 cup flour
1 medium onion, sliced
1 teaspoon paprika
3 Tablespoons shortening
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon onion salt
1 cup water
1 clove garlic, crushed

Cut steak into 6 pieces and pound the flour into the meat with either a meat mallot or a knife.. (I use a knife.. what a great stress-relieving tactic.lol) Brown meat well in shortening and season with salt and pepper. Add garlic and onion; continue cooking until onion is tender and browned. Add paprika, onion salt and water. Cover and bake in moderately hot 375 degree oven until meat is tender or about 2 hours. Add more water if necessary. (I like to bake this for about 4 hours and check it every 30 minutes or so, adding water if necessary. Also, I quadrupled this recipe and made it in a 5-qt dutch oven. It's a great recipe for a group!)

Enjoy!

Happy Cooking!

Teauna

GO HERE FOR YOUR PRINTABLE RECIPE!

***** Yummy Fingersteaks *****

My family is a "meat & potatoes" kind of family. So I like to shake it up and make something different with the meat part every now and again. One dinner that I really like to make is fingersteaks! You can use a cheaper cut of steak and marinate them and they end up just as tender or even MORE tender than a more expensive cut of meat. When I make fingersteaks, I like to use ROUND STEAK. I went this morning to the local butcher and had them cut me 2.5 pounds of round steak. They vacuum pack them for me so they freeze well but I had no intention of freezing them today :-) The round steaks were $2.79/lb versus $4-6/lb for the more expensive cuts of steak.I brought it home and the first thing I did was trimmed the fat off around the edges. There wasn't much, however I really don't like to bite into any fat when I'm eating meat. The other thing I do to make it easy to trim the meat and cut it into strips is I use kitchen scissors! Cut the steak into approximately 1/2"-1" strips. Place them in a large bowl...

add to the meat:

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup lemon juice

2 Tbsp soy sauce

2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp garlic powder

3 Tbsp A-1 steak sauce

Sprinkle of Accent (optional)

Mix this all together and marinade meat for at least 3 hours or up to 24 hours. Of course, the longer you marinade, the more tender your meat will be. During the day, turn the meat several times and make sure to keep it covered. You want to make sure that all the meat has an equal opportunity to be marinated :-)!

Place in a collander to drain. Shake in flour. I like to use a gallon-size ziploc with flour in it and add a few fingersteaks at a time and seal the bag then shake. Deep fry in oil until cooked. Place on a paper towel to soak up excess oil.

These are delicious. I like to serve them with scalloped potatoes and corn! This will serve a family of four with a good chance of left-overs and will cost approximately $10.50... Not a bad price for a good meal of steak and potatoes!

Happy Cooking!!

*Teauna*