Recipe of the Month – Jane Russell’s Green Pepper Steak

Jane Russell’s Green Pepper Steak A La Waterfield

2 lbs top round steak cut into ½ inch strips

4 tablespoons olive oil (divided use)

2 large green bell peppers cut into thin strips

2 large onions, coarsely chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed (divided use)

½ lb fresh mushrooms, sliced

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 teaspoons salt

¾ cup red wine

5 or 6 pinches of curry powder

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large, heavy frying pan and brown the steak with 1 crushed clove of garlic.  In a second frying pan, heat another 2 tablespoons of oil and slowly sauté the green peppers and onions until the vegetables are tender.  Add the second clove of crushed garlic, mushrooms, black pepper and salt.  Add the sautéed vegetables to the meat, then add in the wine, cover and cook slowly for half an hour.  Add in the curry powder, cover and continue to simmer for another hour.  Jane says, ‘At this point, you may eat with gusto, but you may also continue cooking gently for many hours or even take it off the stove and store it overnight, in which case the flavour will be even better.’

Serve over warm rice.

Serves: 4-6

Jane advises adding chicken or beef broth if the mixture needs more liquid. She also says not to use too much curry powder as, ‘This isn’t a curry: it is a delightful green pepper steak, and you’ll like it and wish you’d made more.’  I hear ya Jane, me and Mr R loved this and had two big helpings each.  I sent two portions back with Mr R for his freezer – a Friday night din-dins with that soon I am hoping.  For UK cooks, an equivalent for top round steak would be silverside or topside.  Here’s a pic of our dinner, not very photogenic but utterly delicious!

I’ve been LOVING Jane in the two Vincent Price films we are featuring in the cookbook.  She looks absolutely ravishing in them both.  What a babe!