Friday, April 15, 2011
S.O.S.
I revived an old dish tonight. Chipped beef in cream sauce, served on toast. Better known to all ex-military as "shit on shingle".
Our version tonight was a bit more elegant than the army version. The toast was 9 grain and the entree was the Stouffer's variety.
It was great.
The army version uses a browner sauce and, in some cases, use a ground beef. That truly looks like shit on a shingle.
In the United States, this dish is more prone to breakfast than to other meals. And, it used to be available at every diner.
I think that I am correct in assigning it to the category of "depression food". Dishes that were made with ingredients that stretched them. In this case, the sauce and the toast.
My mother had it a lot. For dinner. My Dad scarfed it up. I was a bit tentative. But now, I am there. I like it a lot. Somehow I think that this sauce we had might be different from my Mom's.
Chipped beef is sliced beef, thin, that has been salted and air dried and will keep forever. It is still available in stores but less than in the past and more in New England than out here.
I like it a lot.
We will have it again.
