Spicy Swiss Steak

As I believe I have mentioned before, I cannot for the life of me follow a cooking recipe exactly (baking is usually a different story since things need to be more exact). I add garlic and onion powder to pretty much everything, and if there's a way to make it spicy, I do that, too. Walter loves flavorful, spicy food, as do I (although, his spice threshold is much higher than mine).

So, this is the recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens plaid cookbook. It's a classic recipe, but I thought it was a little boring, so I kicked it up a bit.

There are both skillet instructions and oven instructions. I love my skillet, so I have never made it in the oven, but I am sure it is just as good.

Spicy Swiss Steak

Ingredients
-1 pound boneless beef round steak, cut 3/4 inch thick
-2 tablespoons flour
-1/4 teaspoon salt
-1/4 teaspoon black pepper
-1 tablespoon cooking oil (I used EVOO)
-1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes with basil, oregano, and garlic, undrained
-1 small onion, sliced and separated into rings (I diced mine)
-1/2 cup sliced celery Omitted
-1/2 cup sliced carrot Omitted
-2 cups hot cooked noodles or mashed potatoes
I added 1 tablespoon garlic powder, one tablespoon onion powder, 1/2 tablespoon seasoned meat tenderizer, a handful of jalapeno slices (about 6), and 1/4 cup jalapeno juice.

Directions
1. Trim fat from meat. Cut into 4 serving-size pieces. Combine the flour, salt, and pepper (I added the garlic and onion powders and seasoned meat tenderizer to this mixture). With the notched side of a meat mallet, pound flour mixture into meat.
2. In a large skillet brown meat on both sides in hot oil. Drain off fat. Add undrained tomatoes, onion, celery, and carrot (and jalapenos and juice, if using). Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, about 1 1/4 hours or until meat is tender. Skim off fat. Serve with noodles or mashed potatoes.

Oven Directions: Prepare and brown meat in skillet as above. Transfer meat to a 2-quart square baking dish. In the same skillet combine undrained tomatoes, onion, celery, and carrot (and jalapenos/juice). Bring to boiling, scraping up any browned bits. Pour over meat. Cover and bake in a 350 degree oven about 1 hour or until tender. Serve as above.