Creamed Chipped Beef on Toast (S.O.S.)

by DinerStyleDave
Prep: 5m
Cook: 15m
beef
Creamed Chipped Beef on Toast (S.O.S.) - Image

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Ingredients
Servings:4
4tbspbutter
4tbspall-purpose flour
3ozdried chipped beef
2 1/2cupmilk
salt and pepper
8white bread
Nutrition Facts

Per serving

Calculating nutrition...

Instructions
  1. 1

    Melt the butter

    Set a large skillet over medium heat and melt the 4 tablespoons of butter until it's bubbling. Cast iron if you've got it.

  1. 2

    Crisp the beef

    Tear the dried beef into little pieces, drop it in the butter, and let it fry a few minutes until the edges darken and crisp up. That's where the flavor lives, and it cuts some of the salt. If your beef is real salty, rinse it under cold water and pat it dry first.

  2. 3

    Make the roux

    Sprinkle the flour over the beef and stir it in. Cook the roux down a few minutes until it goes light brown so you don't taste raw flour in the gravy.

  3. 4

    Pour in the milk

    Slowly stream in the milk, stirring the whole time so it stays smooth. Whole milk only here — this is no place for skim.

  4. 5

    Thicken it up

    Drop the heat to medium-low and let it simmer a few minutes, stirring now and then, until the gravy coats the back of a spoon. Splash in a little more milk if it gets too thick.

  5. 6

    Season and serve

    Taste before you salt — the beef does a lot of the work. Add salt if it needs it and plenty of cracked black pepper. Toast your bread good and dark, then spoon the creamed beef right over the top.

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Creamed Chipped Beef on Toast (S.O.S.)

Created by: DinerStyleDave

Prep Time: 5m
Cook Time: 15m
Servings: 4

Ingredients

  • 4 tbsp butter
  • 4 tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 3 oz dried chipped beef
  • 2 1/2 cup milk
  • salt and pepper
  • 8 white bread

Instructions

  1. Melt the butterSet a large skillet over medium heat and melt the 4 tablespoons of butter until it's bubbling. Cast iron if you've got it.
  2. Crisp the beefTear the dried beef into little pieces, drop it in the butter, and let it fry a few minutes until the edges darken and crisp up. That's where the flavor lives, and it cuts some of the salt. If your beef is real salty, rinse it under cold water and pat it dry first.
  3. Make the rouxSprinkle the flour over the beef and stir it in. Cook the roux down a few minutes until it goes light brown so you don't taste raw flour in the gravy.
  4. Pour in the milkSlowly stream in the milk, stirring the whole time so it stays smooth. Whole milk only here — this is no place for skim.
  5. Thicken it upDrop the heat to medium-low and let it simmer a few minutes, stirring now and then, until the gravy coats the back of a spoon. Splash in a little more milk if it gets too thick.
  6. Season and serveTaste before you salt — the beef does a lot of the work. Add salt if it needs it and plenty of cracked black pepper. Toast your bread good and dark, then spoon the creamed beef right over the top.

Notes & Tips

The Army called this S.O.S. and I won't repeat what the letters stand for, but any old-timer who came up through a mess hall or a highway diner knows exactly what I mean. It's flour, butter, milk, and a little jar of dried beef — nothing you'd brag about buying, and that's the point. First time I had it was a counter stool at a place off Route 20 that's long gone now, dark before six in the morning, coffee that could strip paint. Toast it dark and don't be shy with the pepper. Good over biscuits or hash browns too if that's the way you lean.