Best SOS Ever!

Yes, I know Thanksgiving is almost upon us, so it may seem strange not to post a recipe for the upcoming holiday. What can I say? There are thousands of recipes for Thanksgiving, and I don’t feel the need to add anything unless I can provide something new and unique. (Or time saving. See the Dressing Corn Bread Muffin recipe posted last year.)

But why SOS? And what is it anyway? Many people know it as creamed chip beef. If you’ve been in the military you may know what SOS stands for. As for the why, when done right, it’s an easy, soul-satisfying meal you may want to enjoy while making preps for the big feast, or after all the T-day leftovers are gone.

Before I get to directions, here are some suggestions that will help elevate what most people probably think is a somewhat ho-hum dish, especially if they’ve only had the frozen stuff sold in a small red box. Quality ingredients really do count here, and they will take a bit of work to obtain. (Making it from grocery store ingredients is still better than the frozen chipped beef.)

First, let’s start with the dried beef. If you have an old-school meat market in your vicinity, they may be making what is known as home-cured dried beef. It will not be tiny pieces of compressed mystery meat sold in a jar. (Those do make cute juice glasses, though.) Nope, it will be a large chunk of beef cured and smoked on their premises. They will take it out of the case and slice to your specifications. Alas, I know of only 2 places to obtain this kind of dried beef. One is New Braunfels (TX) Smoke house. The other is Woudstra Meat Market in Orange City, IA. (http://www.woudstrameatmarket.com/) We used to live in Orange City and get it from Woudstra. In moments of desperation, we will order it and have it shipped. But since our daughter is attending college about an hour away and there is family in the area, we make a dried beef run when we’re up there. Don’t be afraid to order a couple of pounds. When vacuumed sealed or in a tightly wrapped package, it keeps in the freezer quite well. Feel you have no option but to use the dried beef in a jar? The stuff is horrendously salty. Do yourself a favor by removing some salt. Fill the jar with water before starting the cream sauce. Drain off the water when ready to add the dried beef to the sauce.

Now for the milk. Since my husband has MS we need to eliminate processed foods (Good dried beef is an exception) and animals products that have been exposed to all the hormones and antibiotics (plus any other “icks” in commercial feed.) Hubby is not ready to give up dairy yet. Our solution right now is to buy grass fed raw milk directly from the dairy that produces it. It’s super delicious and doesn’t come any fresher. Cows get milked at least twice a day. Depending on herd size and demand for that farm’s product, your milk will probably be from the previous evening’s milking or that morning’s. Corporate dairy will never match that. Want to try it and don’t know how to locate a local dairy? Go to www.realmilk.com.

For those who aren’t bread bakers, if you’re going to source great ingredients for the creamed beef, splurge on good bread. Not in the mood for bread? Try it on a baked sweet potato or your favorite veggie mash.

4 tbsp. Unsalted Butter

4 tbsp. AP Flour

2 c. Milk, warmed (You can add more or less. How thick do you like your sauce?)

1 tbsp. Dried, Minced Onion

Freshly Ground Pepper

Easy melting cheese, to taste (optional)

8 oz. Dried Beef, shredded

Melt butter in a large, non-stick skillet over low-medium heat. Whisk in flour to create a roux. Stir for a couple of minutes to make sure the flour isn’t raw. Pour milk in a little at a time, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Once all milk is in the skillet, add onion, pepper and cheese. Keep stirring until the sauce begins to thicken. Stir in the dried beef and keep to a low simmer until the beef is warm, and its flavor permeates the sauce. Put a heaping spoonful on toast.

A few tips: If you have never made a dairy based gravy or sauce, keep your cooking temp. low to moderate. Dairy can scorch quite easily. It’s not fun to scrub out of the cookware. Why a skillet instead of a sauce pan? It speeds up cooking time when your sauce is spread over a larger surface area. Did you notice this recipe doesn’t have salt? Don’t add it. Like other cured meats, dried beef has salt in it. However, the good stuff won’t need to be rinsed unless you can’t tolerate salt. The cheese does add a little something extra. In the event that you’re like our household, and must eliminate processed foods, you might add something else in its place. I might try some garlic powder or a bit of roasted garlic the next time I make it. On the other hand, I may continue to make it just the way we like it, since this dish is an occasional treat.

The Project Queen