S.O.S. stands for “Chipped Beef” (…except the word is actually Shit) on a Shingle. If you are over 50 you already know this and if you are under 50 you probably wouldn’t give a “chipped beef” if I said “chipped beef” in this post. This is my Papaw Virgil’s recipe. It goes against practically every healthful instinct you might have. Papaw Virgil was a baker and an inventor and a smoker and he loved Budweiser Beer. So this post is not about healthy food, it is about chipped beef and bread and love and memories, and the fact that some of my dearest memories smell of dried beef, canned oysters, Budweiser, axle grease, smoke, sawdust, exhaust, and coffee. If the notion of jarred beef makes you queasy, you are excused. I can’t help it that you didn’t have a Papaw Virgil to teach you about the finer things in life. Just know that I’ll try really hard not to make gagging noises the next time you eat goose liver pate if you won’t make gagging noises at my jar of dried meat. Loosen up. Just buy it, peel off the label and celebrate the darling star lined juice jar you just got with your purchase.
My Papaw (who I shared with 14 other lucky cousins) was a large, strong handsome man. He was the Superintendent at Mead’s Fine Bread in Wichita Falls, Texas when he was younger. When he was older, he was the grandpa who wore those one piece coveralls, and watched the comings and goings of a large and jovial family while he did neat things like make duck decoy weights out of beer cans and cement or welded together a trailer (and I mean from scratch).
Memories are so generational. I know my aunts and uncles would say, no, that Virgil was that handsome young man in pressed pants and a linen shirt who swept Katie off her feet and ran the bakery. My cousins and I knew the old man who had a fishing lure that was a tiny plastic can of Budweiser with treble hooks and the most impressive metal workshop known to mankind. It is fair to say we all loved him more than words are capable of expressing. In our own ages and moments we all had very different relationships with him, but each of us adored him.
A family that large requires frugality. You don’t get that many kids through private schools and college on the salary of a bakery super and a secretary without knowing how to turn lemons into lemonade, if you know what I mean. This is one of those basic, filling meals that is made from pantry staples, left over bread and one little jar of meat. It is a throwback recipe to fine military dining. This was basic troop fare. It was also a regular on my childhood menu, as my mother carried on her father’s tradition. If you like biscuits and gravy, you will probably like this.
I’ve had that jar of meat in my pantry for months waiting for the moment that I could prepare this and savor my memories as well as the meal. I baked several loaves of French Bread a few days ago and ended up with an uneaten loaf. It was entering its days of use limited to toast, croutons, and bread pudding. The notion of my grandfather’s S.O.S. with bread I had made was integral to the enjoyment for me, since I’m pretty sure that Mead’s closed down before I was even born. He would have been pleased that I had made my own bread for this.
So, if you have similar memories, and you have a place in your belly for military style or depression era food, try this someday. It has also, historically, been made with browned hamburger meat. I believe that it was also a pretty popular diner item in years past. But I have never run across it on a menu. That might be a geographic issue. It is hot, creamy and delicious. By the way, you can’t really dress this up. Using good bread was about the only innovation that stayed close enough to the original. I had thoughts of dolling it up and even made a version with mushrooms and tenderloin and it wasn’t as good as this humble little jar of beef. This is as it should be. It is shit on a shingle. I’ve copied the ingredients from Papaw’s recipe verbatim and made notes where necessary.
Preparation:
4 Tablspoons butter (use unsalted, because the salt adds up in this recipe)
4 Tablespoons all purpose flour
2 speck pepper (just a bit)
1 teaspoon salt (I used ½ teaspoon…the meat is very salty)
2 dash paprika
2 cups milk (or milk and a little cream…I used ¼ cup cream with 1-¾ cups 2% milk)
1 jar Hormel dried beef (or Armour)
A loaf of Mead’s Fine Bread (5 to 6 slices of bread, toasted)
In a heavy saucepan over very low heat, melt the butter. Add the flour, pepper, salt and paprika. Stir constantly until blended and smooth.
Slowly add the milk, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until smooth and thickened.
Meanwhile, open the jar of meat. Rinse and drain the meat in the jar with warm water. Do this 3 or 4 times to remove excess salt and to soften the meat. Drain the meat and lay it on a paper towel to absorb the excess moisture. Cut the meat into strips. Stir the meat into the cream sauce and just barely reheat it. Adjust the seasoning. Serve the cream sauce over toasted bread.
Notes: First, the can of Budweiser in the photo is my little prop. I set up the photo and looked at the situation and was sad that there was a lack of character in this white bread photo. I looked in the fridge, and lo and behold, there was one single Budweiser. I took it as a sign from Papaw that he was well pleased with my homemade bread and smooth cream sauce. He would have been irritated that I kept moving to the camera to snap photos when I should have been “stirring constantly.” But he would have been happy that he is such a significant part of my childhood memories.
Second, the book shown to the right is a family cookbook that my extended family built a few years ago. All of my aunts and uncles and cousins contributed favorite recipes and sent me note cards containing old recipes from our grandparents, great grandparents and great aunts and uncles. It was entirely worth the time. I love my little book and I use it all of the time. I encourage you to talk to your families about the foods that were a part of your upbringing. Food is a huge part of culture and it tells a considerable story. For instance, you can probably surmise from this recipe that my family has some military background and that my grandparents were not wealthy. It shows that my grandfather cooked. It gives a sense of time and place. These are memories that are faint for me and memories of which my own children were not a part. But they will get a sense of their origins through the foods I cook for them and the recipes that I pass down to them. Talking about your own family’s food culture will be an enriching experience. And, since you asked, the title of the cookbook is the title of a song that Virgil used to sing to Katie: “K-K-K-Katie, beautiful Katie, you’re the only g-g-g-girl that I adore…And when the m-m-m-moon shines over the c-c-c-cow shed, I’ll be waiting at the k-k-k-kitchen door.”
Third, I say “chipped beef” rather a lot in real life. But my editor (my mother) does not. I care what my mother thinks, so I limit my outbursts of profanity here. This is a family blog. And, after all, caring what one’s mother thinks is the key to staying out of jail, right? That is how the world is supposed to operate. Plus, are you not a little curious as to what the Google-bots will put up as ads if I use profanity? Have you noticed that they seem sometimes to be tracking you a little too closely? Google puts up ads here based on what Google thinks you might be likely to click. When you click an ad, Google makes money and I make a one-zillionth of a penny. That is how this blog generates income. So if I’m talking about “chipped beef” and you are reading about “chipped beef,” Google might assume that you will be interested in products about “chipped beef” and we might end up with some rather unsavory looking ads next to a perfectly lovely food photo.
Whoever thought that S.O.S. would bring tears to the eyes?!! My Daddy, K-K-K-Katie’s brother, used to make this too and it is sooooooo gooooood!!! Haven’t had it in many years. Think I should pick up a jar today. Nobody could sing that song better than your Papaw. And I’ll never forget the sparkle in Aunt Katie’s eyes. Thanks for the memories, Kelly.
P.S. I am so jealous of that cookbook!
Judy…you have made my day! Thank you for sharing my memory with me. I might have a few extra of the cookbook around the house. If I find one, I’ll mail it to you. My editorial standards have improved since putting it together and I keep finding typos in it that are driving me nuts. But there are some jewels in it. My favorites might be Betty’s former MIL’s mother’s (Zona Farris’) Liniment Recipe “for horses and cowboys” and Papaw’s Carp Bait made with jello and catfish chow.
i love this story! and i just smile thinking about Virgil and all his handmade contraptions…
you should sell that cookbook! i would buy it. another great literary piece – thank you!!
Such great memories. My father always made the best chipped beef at our vacation home in Colorado (and at home in Texas as well). It is one of my favorites. Our family recipe does not include the paprika – will have to try it. Another of his favorite breakfast items was corned beef hash. Yummy with or without an egg on top. Thanks for sharing.
Love the cookbook. Bet it holds many great recipes – think about publishing it……. It would be a hit.
I have always loved “chipped beef” on a shingle. I have also always loved goose liver pate. Go figure. Mom always made it with the Carl Buddig sliced beef in the bag. I will look for the Armour version. I think the jelly jar is much more earth friendly, recyclable and cuter than a plastic baggie. I wish I had known Virgil. I’m glad I know you.
And, Catherine, as you well know…I’m utterly ga-ga over you. And, in my effort to be more like you in every way, I might have to start eating pate too. Perhaps next time we are in AZ we can have a little pate intervention for me.
Pitts said his mom used the baggie meat, too. I might have to make this 7 more times this week so I can have a collection of the little juice jars. I might die from the sodium intake, but I think it will be worth it.
This is spooky. I was thinking about SOS just this morning, and I don’t remember seeing or hearing any mention of it in a long time. Great minds! Anyway, I’ll be taking a nostalgia trip soon. Thanks!
Jim
Kelly-
What a treasure that cookbook is!! And what good memories it must bring up.
Glad you brought up this recipe, I haven’t made it in years but I will try again. My Mother ( and I) always put chopped hard boiled eggs in hers. We would have it for breakfast or supper. I love your blog.
I’m gonna try this fabulous ideas from your treasured book.
Found this post via Foodgawker in my reader. I knew how to make this dish, but decided to see if you had any variation on it that would interest me. It’s pretty much the same, but I use leftover roast in mine.
Loved the story and decided to subscribe to your site even though I already have so many it’s a chore to wade through each day. Anyone whose family grew up in Wichita Falls HAS to be “tuff enuf” for me to take lessons from. (In tough OR cooking)
My momma’s been gone for several years now -sniff- but I try to never post anything in my own blog or on discussion boards and forums that she wouldn’t approve of. Still, I don’t really give a “chipped beef” if people don’t like what I say.
Looking fwd. to future posts! Now I’m off to snoop around!
Regards,
Mike (East of Amarillo)
Thanks Mike. It is always nice (albeit, somewhat rare) to find a kindred 287 spirit. Thanks for subscribing. I know the emails do add up so I appreciate it. I look forward to having you around.
Kelly – I, too, love SOS – and for me it must have a poached egg on top to be the ultimate comfort food. I make the cream sauce right on top of the beef which I’ve muddled in butter for a minute or two before adding flour and the rest. My father was the maker of SOS in our house – the Fraziers and Piersons probably both made this, but my mother the city girl loved it too. You go, girl!
Susan
Kelly, I love hearing the family stories. I feel the warmth, humor, and love in them. Please don’t stop telling them. Love, Cindi p.s. I love sos!
Oh, chipped beef! I had forgotten that just because I’m old, I’m not entitled to say anything I please. I guess Grandma Katie would still be displeased with my dirty mouth. Thanks for the alternative words. Maybe now I can keep some of my quarters out of my grandkid’s cuss jar.
It’s SOS for dinner tonight!
PS: Just this weekend Andy and Drew called wanting the Carp Bait recipe. I asked if they had looked in the “Kitchen Door”, and sure enough it was there. You are such a doll for preserving these family jewels for yet another generation.
Aunt Betty!!! You are entitled to say whatever you want whenever you want! I want to get together and hear all about your time teaching in London.
Boy – this brings back memories of my favorite breakfast when we were growing up. I don’t think my Mom rinsed the beef, though – she threw it in the pan with lots of butter then made the gravy on top. This is making me hungry for S.O.S. – might have to make a run to Market Street today!
Thanks for the great family stories – I love reading them!
Barbi
I have big old tears in my eyes…I miss Papaw Virgil and Grandma Katie dearly! If you are able to bake 14 foot loaves of bread baked in a rain gutter, then I’m calling the ‘Food Network’! Thanks for the Carlson nostalgia and memories. Papaw Virgil is smiling down on you! Love you so much.
Thanks JoJo…I love you and miss you dearly.
Oh my goodness, I love SOS! Me and my brother were just talking about it the other day! We used to eat it a lot as kids but we always had the pre-made Stouffer’s version. I like the idea of making it like this even better. Wonder if I can even find cans of dried beef around this part of the country…Let’s hope so!
Nice to be introduced to your site, Kelly. I found you through the Kitchn’s link to your potatoes with buttermilk and bacon. But this SOS recipe calls my name!
Welcome, Amanda! I love The Kitchn and I’m completely honored to pop up in their round-ups from time to time. I think you can find those jars just about anywhere as long as you are at the regular run-of-the-mill grocer. Check near the Velveeta and I’ve also seen it tucked in end-caps where they have the cans of “shake” cheese parmesan products. Ask for hormel or armour dried beef in a jar. Good luck on your search. And don’t throw away the little glass!
I’m on it! And no worries, I wouldn’t toss such an awesome litle glass! Good luck with your site. I’d follow suit in a minue if I had any skils in photography. ;-)
I knew I was never alone in eating this! This is one of my favorite comfort foods! I used to beg for my granny to make this! I finally took it upon myself to learn when I got married. Now this is one of the items on our Sunday brunch!!
Kelly – I recently lost my 28 year old sister, Katie. My parents sang that very same song to her as we were growing up. In her eulogy, I even made mention of the song, and that I was glad that I would always have her to watch over my kitchen door. When I read this post, I had to let you know that it made me smile. Thanks for reminding me of some very happy memories.
Jessica, I truly don’t know what to say except that I am so very sorry. What an enormous loss. This song makes me smile too, but it definitely lives in a tender spot in my heart. Our Katie was loved, as well, and is also missed…but we got to keep her for a very long time. My kids never met my grandma Katie, but I sing this song to them and it is a real connection for them. It keeps their thoughts of her in a warm and comforting place. I hope this song always makes you smile. Although I’m sure it is a smile through tears. I’m glad you shared your story. Several people have told me about their Katie and how this song was in their lives, as well. I always enjoy hearing about that connection. It is a sweet memory for all of us. Again, my heart goes out to you and your family.
I cannot see how many your recipe serves … help! I want to make tonight but do not know whether to double it or not … gee, is there any chance you will answer today? :o)
Ok…here’s the deal. I made this for my husband and myself and we both stuffed ourselves and had some left over with one recipe. Therefore, I would say that if you are feeding 3 to 4 normal eaters, one recipe will suffice with one piece of toast per person. If you are feeding 4 linebacker types, you might want to double it, or consider doubling the meat. Or, you could easily do half the recipe in addition by adding 2 more T butter, 2 more T flour, and then one more cup of milk, with another whole jar of the meat. This would give you a meatier sauce, and be plenty for 4. I hope this helps. I hate guessing at serving sizes because I think “normal” eating is different for everyone. Let me know what you end up doing and how you like it. I hope this was fast enough. I tried to email from my car, but it wouldn’t send.
During my service in the Marine Corps,–SOS to me was always creamed ground beef on toast. What you are calling chipped beef on toast was called creamed foreskins on toast. I love both of them. Do any of you
former Marines remember what bologna was called?
Semper Fi,
Wally
Wally, thank you for the big laugh, and for your service. I think I need to try the ground beef version, if only so I won’t have to think of the other title when I eat. Very funny.
Kelly,
I had soo forgotten S.O.S.! My momma used to make it all the time when we were growing up! It was a weekly staple in our house of 5 girls! Right next to tuna casserole! (Blech! Still can’t stand tuna!) She used several different meats in hers. It just depended on what we had the most of at the time! She never rinsed the chipped beef so ours was really salty! But her variations included burger and sausage too (which would be just sausage gravy.
Thanks for bringing back some memories for a Louisville, KY girl!
Holey moley,
Your piece reminded me of life in the service (62-66) and the mess hall. One of the best things they served in “those days”.
Also, your rememberances of budweiser, smelly things, men who work, family and the rest, makes me lonesome for all those who have gone ahead on their trips.
Nicely done and thank you for reminding me of Dad, my father in law, Uncle Melvin, Uncle Audie, Joe Tidwell and all the other men I have loved.
Thanks so much.
PS. It’s very salty.
Thank you so much. It really is a memory food. It touches a lot of emotional spots for such a simple dish.
I too had “chipped” beef on toast as a child & loved it! I was my parents only daughter out of 4 children & I wish they had made me cook with my mother. She could make leather shoes taste delicious! She made chipped beef at least once a week..? She would also go to the farmers market in the summer & can her own vegetables. I never figured out how we had fresh veggies in the dead of winter until I was grown! Thank you for the recipe that I’ve missed so very much! It’s just like mommas!!
I love to hear these stories, Beverly. I have very fond memories of S.O.S., too. It brings back a lot of happy stuff for me.
How about it? None of you former Marines, Sailors, Soldiers have mentioned what we called our Sunday nite dinners(snacks) of bologna sandwiches.
Semper Fi,
Wally
I stumbled across this today. Mom made SOS for dinner and sent it with me to feed to nephews while I baby-sat them. Unfortunately, she didn’t make enough so I had to double check the recipe to spread it a little farther. Boy am I glad, your story-telling is wonderful.
I have seen chipped beef on the menu of a local restaurant or two (I am pretty sure that is where I first encountered it) Der Dutchman restaurants have had it for sure (and one restaurant featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.
It is a favorite of mine, could eat it weekly no problem. Anyone who snubs it because it is cheap or simple is just silly.
Thank you. What I kind thing to say. I really enjoyed writing this one, because SOS isn’t just food. Everyone I’ve talked to has a memory or a good (or bad) feeling to go along with it. And it is rarely just YUCK…it is usually “yuck, I really don’t want to remember where I was when I used to eat this all the time”…or “yuck, those were sure good times but I hope I never see another bite of SOS.” But, I whole heartedly agree that anyone who doesn’t eat it just because it is cheap or simple is totally missing out on the fun. Thanks for visiting.
Methinks you will want to learn how to make your own dried beef when you learn that both Hormel and Armour brands of dried beef are made with ground beef, then formed into slices (the label says ‘ground and formed’). This ground beef is likely laced with pink slime (if not 100% pink slime), since there is no truth in labeling law covering pink slime.
When I was a kid in the 1950s, these national brands used real dried and sliced beef and it had a totally different flavor than today’s spam-like version.
If you don’t want to make your own, find a charcuterie that does.
One more thing: paprika provides only color, not taste, unless you add it to the butter while it’s melting – fats release the wonderful flavor of paprika – before mixing in the flour and milk.
I enjoyed your post, especially the notes on the photos.
Cat, I was relieved to get to the end and see that you actually liked the post. Thank you. I certainly understand that some will be turned off by commercial jarred meats. I get that. And, I’m a studious label reader, so I generally know what I’m getting myself into. So, methinks I will probably stick with the jarred stuff when I make this because it is sort of the entire point of the exercise for me. It is not the highest quality dried beef, but it is the very “cheapness” and convenience of it that made SOS such a staple in many kitchens and in the military. It is what we ate b/c that is what was set in front of us. And it either gives us the heebie jeebies to even think about it or it gives us warm memories of days past. I have attempted to gussy up SOS once or twice before and found that in doing so I lost the very essence of what I was trying to recreate, and in fact created something different entirely. If I ever have the luck of running into a meat curer with really great dried beef, I might give it a try. Though I fear that if SOS costs more than about 50 cents per serving it no longer constitutes shit on a shingle, and we’d have to get it a new name. And, Creamed Artisinal Dried Beef on a Shingle just doesn’t have the same ring to it.
Now, this is not an endorsement of pink slime, by any means. The notion is repellant…but I just don’t think about it when I’m dealing with an old school issue like this one. I also eat Hershey’s Syrup by the train car full, hot tamales candy, lard, and regular nitrate filled hot dogs (the lard perhaps being the healthiest of these selections). I’m selectively selective, I guess you could say. Moderation.
About the paprika. I fully advocate that every person with a jar of paprika over 6 or so months old throw it away. I find that fresh, high quality paprika has nice flavor, especially the smoked Spanish varieties. Granted, it is more fully developed when cooked briefly in fats (but beware friends, paprika actually burns quickly). But, good paprika, even unheated is not flavorless, in my opinion. It is simply not fully bloomed, so to speak.
Thanks for dropping by. Have a great day!
I want to clear up a misunderstanding (perhaps):
The version of chipped beef that got the name SOS from the military was NOT the ground and formed nonsense we get now; neither was it ‘artisinal’ (tho it may be considered that today). It was a thrifty way of keeping meat in the pre-refrigeration and pre-industrialized-kitchens age, just as was its cousin, corned beef, or cured and smoked ham.
Curing a chunk (roast) of meat is an age-old tradition dating back to the early days of agricultural humans. And until the 1970s or so, was the only version of chipped beef on the market. So what the WWI and WWII soldiers ate and named SOS was thinly sliced, cured hunk of roast, not ground meat/slime pressed into perfect thin rounds. So if you want the real deal, as you say you do, you’ll want to look for a source or try making your own.
PS in my original comment, I didn’t intend for all that text to be in bold; only the term ‘pink slime’. Since I don’t have the ability to edit it from my end, could you edit it from your end? I see you use wordpress, which is what I use for one of my blogs, so I know it can be done. Check out the wordpress blog for which I am the editor: essentialstuff.org.
And I am enjoying your blog and will probably comment on more posts. I also like the name of your blog.
The biggest problem with abandoning the jarred beef is that I wouldn’t get the cute little juice jar…that would really be tragic. I enjoyed your comment and I do hope you keep visiting. PINK SLIME should be in bold…nasty.
Ah, the jar. I understand – I have a collection of them from when I was a kid in the 50s. They do make great juice glasses for kids. But I consider the ground/formed contents to be poison for kids & adults. So methinks you might visit yard sales and thrift shops for those jar/glasses.
I plan to test a batch of dried beef starting this weekend. I bought a small 3/4 lb beef top-round roast, and will use a wet cure (brine) before drying. I’ll post the results and the recipe on my personal website (catsfork.com) and if I remember, will send you the link.
Please do. I’d love to know how that turns out.
I just stumbled across this today, over a year after it was published and a few months after the most recent comment.
I was pleasantly surprised to see this post! I’m a 21 year old gal from rural Pennsylvania, and we used to eat this frequently (I get it EVERY TIME we go out for breakfast). Now that I’m in college in New York City, no one has any idea what “dried beef gravy,” “S.O.S.,” or “chipped beef gravy” is at all! Whew! I’m glad my family and I aren’t the only ones still gobbling this up.
You have a great blog here, love the recipes!
Lex
Thanks, Lex. Perhaps you will have to teach NYC about the joys of this treat. And, you are not alone. I still love it. I’ve got to think there are some old diners on the island that can serve up a mean plate of it. I sure hope so.
What you are calling SOS with chipped (dried beef) is actually “Creamed Foreskins on Toast”. SOS is made with ground beef (hamburger),-creamed and over toast. Semper Fi !
Wallace, thank you for your service. And thank you for making me laugh so hard that coffee shot out my nose. Ouch.
I haven’t heard from any of you old old Army, Navy, Air Force or Marine Veterans. Don’t you remember the Sunday nite sandwiches (snacks) made of horse
c–k(bologna)? Still tastes good just like SOS and Creamed F-r-sk–s.
[...] the wee hours of the night. When you go home you eat. You eat special foods. I had requested SOS and Charlie served it up for breakfast the following morning. It was a salt laden soul satisfying [...]