Food You Can Eat: Pepper Steak

A standard restaurant menu item from the 1970's.

The key is not to cook the veggies too much.

First things first:  This is another one of the recipes that my mother picked up from my grandmother.  She didn’t make it nearly often enough for my preference.  This is also the dish which got me started on my kick of eating raw meat.  My mother would be slicing round steak on the counter and when her back was turned, 5-year-old me would reach up, grab a slice, and pop it into my mouth.  Every once in a while she would catch me and freak out.

A caveat before we get started:  The recipe calls for Consommé and water—the inference being that you’re supposed to use condensed soup and thin it out.  Fuck that shit.  I used bone broth instead.

Here’s what you’ll need: 

1 ½ Lbs. Round Steak

1 tsp. Paprika

2 Tbsp. Butter

1 tsp. Garlic Powder

1 ⅓ Cups Water

1 Can Beef Consommé

4 Sm. Onions, cut into wedges

2 Med. Green Peppers, sliced

⅓ Cup Soy Sauce

3 Tbsp. Cornstarch

½ Lb. Fresh Mushrooms, sliced

3 Sm. Tomatoes, cut into wedges

Cut meat into 1-inch strips and sprinkle with paprika.  Let stand for 15 minutes.

Melt butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat.   Add meat, sprinkle with garlic powder, and brown.  Add 1 cup of water, cover and simmer until tender, approximately 1 hour.

This meat is tough no matter how long and low it gets simmered.

Stir in consommé, onions and peppers and cook for 15 minutes.

Low flame means low flame. You don’t want these veggies to overcook.

In a separate bowl, mix together soy sauce, cornstarch and ⅓ cup water.  Add to meat and stir to thicken.  Add mushrooms and cook for 10 minutes. 

Still on low.

Add tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes.

The tomatoes break down quickly, but they’re pretty now.

Serve over rice.

This is pretty good, but honestly not as good as I remember it—but that’s probably because I have a slightly more sophisticated palate than when I was a kid. 

avataravataravataravataravataravataravatar
About butcherbakertoiletrymaker 603 Articles
When you can walk its length, and leave no trace, you will have learned.

6 Comments

  1. We had a similar dish when I was a kid but we used cube steaks and simmered them longer before adding the veggies. Although I’m pretty sure a cube steak is just round steak that’s been tenderized, so that tracks that it’s basically the same recipe. HAHHAHA.

    Sometimes we’d use egg noodles instead of rice.

Leave a Reply