Minute Steaks in Garlic Tomato Sauce

Ahh, the minute steak. The seemingly last cut of meat to get cooked out of my bulk purchase of 30 lbs. of grass fed beef from our local beef farmer. What to do with these guys? I am always asking myself. Usually I make chicken fried steak out of the minute steak, but the other night I wanted something different. Something juicy. Something comforting.

In my online research about the best ways to cook this often neglected cut of meat, I found that it really should be slow cooked in some form of acid to get it to a tender state. After some thought, I realized I haven't made a lot of tomato-based dishes lately, so that became my cooking-acid of choice. It worked out fabulously! My four year old told me the house smelled "delicious" while this was cooking on the stove, "just like a restaurant," (a sure sign that I've hit the mark on dinner).

In fact, it was so good, I raved to my husband about this dish (he unfortunately missed this manly meat-and-potatoes meal due to some work deadlines), and I'm not one to rave about steaks in general, let alone minute steaks. So I knew it had to make an appearance on the 18 Hour Kitchen as this will definitely be one recipe I'll keep coming back to when our next round of beef is scheduled for delivery and those minute steaks need to get used up quick!


Minute Steaks in Garlic Tomato Sauce

2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 medium onion
4 cloves garlic
1 lb. minute steaks (about three 1/3 lb. steaks)
1/4 cup all purpose gluten free flour blend
1 14 oz. can chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon dried oregano
salt, pepper

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Chop onion and add to pan. Cook about 3-4 minutes until translucent.

Meanwhile, rough chop garlic and dredge steaks on both sides in GF flour, shaking off excess flour. Add steaks to pan and spread garlic around steaks in pan. Cook steaks 3-4 minutes per side, until browned.

Next pour the whole can of tomatoes over the steaks in pan (including juice). Sprinkle oregano over tomatoes and add a few shakes of salt and pepper. Stir to evenly distribute sauce over and around steaks.

Bring to a gentle boil, then turn heat down to low, cover, and cook an additional 20 minutes, until steaks are tender. Serve steaks topped with garlic tomato sauce.

This dish pairs wonderfully with garlic mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli.