Braised Swiss Steak

1. Preheat oven to 325ºF.

2. Fry bacon in a Dutch oven over medium heat until crisp. Turn off heat and remove bacon to a plate. Carefully spoon drippings from the pot into a measuring cup and add enough canola oil to equal ¼ cup total fat.

3. Put the flour into a shallow dish or saucer. Trim the beef of extra fat and divide into four individual servings. Season each side with half of the salt and pepper then dredge in the flour. Season again with remaining salt and pepper and dredge in flour again.

4. Return Dutch oven to medium-high heat, add the oil/bacon drippings mixture and when the oil is hot, add two of the steaks. Brown for 2 minutes on each side or until golden then remove the browned steaks to a wire rack, set over a plate, to rest. Repeat with the two remaining steaks.

5. After the last two steaks are removed from the pot to the wire rack, add the onions, green pepper and garlic and sauté for 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste until combined and then add the diced tomatoes, oregano, paprika, Worcestershire sauce and beef stock.

6. Stir until the sauce comes to a simmer, crumble the cooked bacon into the pot and stir into the sauce. Return the steaks to the Dutch oven along with any accumulated juices and submerge them in the sauce. Cover and cook for 1½ hours in the preheated oven.