Monday, March 27, 2017

Baked Steak to Fight the Winter Doldrums

If you've been hanging around the Cafe for the last week or so, I think you've noticed that all of us have been suffering from some aspect of the late winter doldrums. From East to West, from North to South, we're getting over colds, dealing with more and more snow, or ice, or just the winter blahs.

But I think we're over the hurdle - dirty snow banks notwithstanding.


Because SPRING has finally come to the Black Hills.


So we're kicking sickness and doldrums to the curb, opening up the windows, and letting the fresh air in.


We drove up into the Hills on Saturday, to what some people consider the Jewel of the Hills: Sylvan Lake in Custer State Park. If the granite walls look familiar, you might recognize this area as part of the scenery in the movie, "National Treasure: Book of Secrets," with Nicolas Cage.

Whether there really is treasure in those Hills or not (I think not), it's a beautiful place.


Even the geese think so! And look who else we spied! The Western Bluebirds are back from their winter in the south!


We found two of the beauties searching for food on the ice. Now we know it's truly Spring!

To celebrate the end of winter/beginning of spring/end of the crud that's had me down the past couple weeks, I decided to hunt up a new comfort food recipe.

There's really nothing more comforting than a retro, throw-back to the 20th century, meat and potatoes meal.

Baked Steak

serves two 
ingredients:

two steaks - round steak works best, I had rib-eye on hand
1/4 cup flour
salt & pepper to taste
2 Tablespoons oil (I used one Tablespoon each of coconut oil and butter)
2-3 cups beef stock
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
1 small onion, sliced



Preheat your oven to 375°.

In a Dutch Oven, or other large pan that will go into your oven, heat the oil.

Mix the flour, salt and pepper together and dredge the steaks in it. Place the steaks in the pan in the hot oil and brown both sides.

Remove the steaks, and pour in part of the beef broth and bring to a boil. Scrape the yummy bits off the bottom of the pan as the broth is heating and mix them in. 

Add the Worcestershire sauce, more broth, and half of the sliced onions.


Layer the browned steaks on top of the onions, add the rest of the sliced onions, and the rest of the broth.


Cover and bake at 375° for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Cook some potatoes in your favorite way - I quartered and boiled some red potatoes and seasoned them with salt, pepper, and butter.

Serve with a big salad, and maybe some homemade bread, if you have any. 


It was a delicious meal for a cold and rainy early spring evening. 

What is your favorite way to push through the winter doldrums?




Jan Drexler loves her family, her home, cooking and just about anything made by hand. But she loves her Lord most of all.

Stop by Jan's website to learn more about her books: www.JanDrexler.com

11 comments:

  1. Jan, I have never tried this and I bet it's wonderful!!! Will give it a go this spring because we get lots of chilly, damp weather in upstate, cold rains straight off of Lake Ontario... and something like this will make Farmer Dave so happy!!! :)

    Love the pics. They make me smile and right now our spring peepers are chorusing... this is their FOURTH TIME AWAKE and the sages say that the peepers have to freeze three times before spring arrives... Could that mean we've arrived??? Oh, happy day! :)

    I'm ready for sunshine and kissing the gray piles of leftover snow goodbye until November... bring me flowers and leaves and singing creatures!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We still have freezing nights and frosty mornings, but today's forecast is 60° and sunny...and that sunshine makes all the difference!

      On the other hand, there is a winter weather advisory for the Big Horn Mountains today, just west of us in Wyoming. We'll get some more cold, and maybe even snow, but winter is on its way out.

      Delete
  2. favourite way to push through the winter doldrums??? That's easy -- eat copious amounts of Easter chocolate and hot cross buns. LOL Okay, so not as healthy as your way but still...

    We have freezing rain again today but then...fingers crossed...they say we'll be in the double digits tomorrow! And my sweet daughter spied strawberries at Farm Boy that didn't taste like sawdust. She brought me some and was supposed to bring them over today but...freezing rain...:-( But at least we know it's spring somewhere and that gives us hope for spring up here and our own fresh strawberries someday.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mmmm, strawberries!

      We're supposed to get a nice, needed dose of rain tomorrow, but won't know until then if it will be freezing rain. So far, it isn't. But around here, we love spring rain. We don't get much the rest of the year!

      Delete
  3. Jan, I love the photos! Feel like I'm traveling the world. :)

    Do those steaks turn out sort of like a pot roast??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We feel like we get a few hours of vacation travel in every time we go up into the Hills. :) I love living here!

      The steaks weren't too much like pot roast. More like Swiss Steak, without the tomato sauce. The texture was like well done steaks - which my husband loves. And the flavor was delicious!

      Delete
  4. I like steak and onions so will try this one,thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I like any recipe that includes the words,"Cover and bake at 375° for 1 1/2 to 2 hours." That means I get to ignore it awhile!

    The steak sounds yummy.

    It actually felt like spring in the air here on Saturday. There was just a hint of something. But then the cold rain came back again yesterday and today. The sun finally broke through, so I'm hopeful.

    My daughter was working in Austin this weekend. She messaged me this morning that she was enjoying the sun and heat tremendously!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think your daughter should have taken you along to Austin with her! There's nothing like Texas sunshine in the spring!

      And that "cover and bake at 375° for 1 1/2 to 2 hours" was one of the reasons why I chose this recipe. Last week, my energy came in short spurts, so this was perfect. Put the main dish in the oven, take a nap, cook the potatoes, eat. :)

      Delete
  6. I love everything about this post. DELICIOUS!

    ReplyDelete