Pap's Army Days S.O.S.

[luvs]

ground beef
4% fat milk (whole milk)
flour
lots of onion powder
black pepper
salt
(i like to add garlic powder and ground sage, too.)
-
soft white bread
mashed potatoes
--------------------------
break ground beef up over medium heat and brown.
drain and season with above-listed seasonings.
shake milk and enough flour up in a jar to make a thick liquid.
pour over beef while stirring constantly.
drop flame to low and allow it to simmer for several minutes, till flour is cooked out and a nice gravy forms.
serve over bread and mashed potatoes.

 

[thumpershere2]

I make this often in different ways. I make a medium white sauce and add cooked browned beef, onions, salt & pepper and frozen peas. Also make it with cooked cubed chicken with peas. Another is hard boiled eggs chopped, with sausage. Another is asparagus. All is good on toast or biscuits.

 

[Barbara L]

I've never heard of this made with ground beef (although it sounds good). We've always made it with dried beef (you buy it in little jars).

Barbara

 

[Constance]

My dad was a coal miner, and sometimes back then they went on some pretty long strikes. When the money started getting short, mom started getting creative.
She used to make creamed eggs sometimes...she'd chop the egg whites and put them in the white sauce, add S&P, spoon over toast, then sieve the yolks over the top. Looked real pretty and tasted good too.
My grandmother used to make Chicken a la King, which was chicken, pimentos and mushrooms in a cream sauce, then serve them in choux pastry shells.

 

[luvs]

barb, it surprised me when i first saw other peoples' recipe for this, cause they all used dried beef and i hadn't heard of it being made that way before.
Pap used to cook for the army when he was a soldier, and he brought this recipe home with him. it'd be neat to know where the burger variation originated from.

 

[Rob Babcock]

I used to make "S.O.S." frequently in my pre-Atkins days! I always used ground beef, too, along with onions and mushrooms. Season with a bit of s&p with some garlic and serve over toast (I didn't usually make potatoes with mine).

Very tasty, very simple and quick to make, and everyone likes it.

 

[auntdot]

Hi Luvs, always made the dish with dried 'chipped' beef. As Barbara L said the stuff you buy in the little jars.

Nut that I am, we happen to have Department of the Army Technical Manual, TM 10-412, Issued November, 1950, just lying around.

This comes from page 171 of the manual, recipe No. K-78.

Creamed Dried Beef

Beef, dried, chipped 7 lbs
Fat, melted, butter or oleo 1 lb
Flour, sifted 1 1/4 lb
Milk, evaporated (12 cans) 14 1/2 oz ea
Water (for milk) 1 ½ gal
Pepper ½ Tablespoon

1. Separate beef into small pieces.

2. Mix melted fat and flour; stir until smooth.

3. Mix milk and water; heat. Add gradually to flour mixture stirring constantly.

4. Add chipped beef and pepper. Heat to boiling point; reduce heat and simmer about 10 minutes.

5. Serve hot over toast.

Makes one hundred one cup servings.

The military probably changed the recipe, because yours sounds much tastier.

But to me, SOS will always be the one with the chipped beef.

 

[kadesma]

And my dad's version of "sos" had tuna instead of dried beef..Go figure...Talk about being creative
kadesma

 

[Michael in FtW]

I grew up on Air Force bases, and did my time in the Navy about 20 years later than auntdot's 1950 recipe - and SOS was ALWAYS creamed chipped beef on toast. And, always following the Army recipe auntdot posted.

What was a staple for the military (dried beef) is somewhat of a luxury these days (those little jars of dried beef are not cheap where I shop - $2.19 for a 2.25 oz jar). When I get a craving for this "comfort" food - I get a little 2.5-oz packet of "sliced beef" (Albertson's Lunch Meat Beef Wafer Sliced) at the grocery in the lunchmeat section - it's usually 45-cents per package and sometimes on sale for 3-4/pks for $1 and there are 10 slices to a package. It's cheap - just about as salty - and taste about the same. I just cut the meat in half, then stack it up and slice it into strips as thick or thin as I want.

 

[luvs]

dunno, michael, i'm sure different groups of soldiers abided by different recipes. mine is the recipe my Grandfather knew as a soldier, and the recipe he raised my Dad on, and the recipe my Dad raised me on. there are variations in all recipes.
i also have a kidney bean recipe and a macaroni recipe from my Grandfather's army days that i'm sure would be unfamiliar to some former soldiers.

 

[Lance Bushrod]

We had both versions at my house but in the army mess hall it was always burger - 60's through 80's.

Thanks for the reminder luvs.

 

[Addie]

I have steak tips. Will be making S.O.S. tonight with those. Served over beef seasoned rice.

I used to make it with the chipped beef. But that little jar is just too expensive now. There are just to many variations that cost a lot less. It is the gravy that stretches the dish to feed several folks sitting around the table.

 

[Cheryl J]

It's not "S.O.S" if it's served over rice.

 

[Kayelle]

I thought the last S was Shingle=toast.

 

[GotGarlic]

I don't think steak tips on rice is anything close to SOS.

 

[Cheryl J]

Nope. Sounds good Addie, but it's not SOS if it's steak tips on rice. SOS needs a 'shingle'.

From what I understand SOS was a way to use up and stretch leftover beef and bread that was becoming stale. My dad was in the Navy and we had it every couple of weeks or so growing up. We loved it. Sometimes Mom would use leftover ground beef instead of the chipped beef in a jar, but it always had a milk based gravy and was served on toast.

Who knows where it originated - back east it's an Amish staple, too. I haven't had it in years but I remember it being pretty darn good.

 

[Dawgluver]

Dad was serving in the air force with the Korean thing back in the day, and mentioned eating SOS. And the last "s" is definitely a slab of bread.

Rice, bread, rice cake, it's all good.

 

[Aunt Bea]

We used to make it with ham when the little jars of dried beef became too expensive for a budget meal. Sometimes we would swap our Shingle for mashed potatoes.

SPAM might be another option for an emergency shelf version.

We used to save the little jars that the Armour dried beef came in, the ones with the stars around the rim, and use them as juice glasses. My childhood was a very low budget operation!

 

[Kayelle]

Interesting the date of the OP.. 2005. And the beat goes on.

 

[Lance Bushrod]

We used to make it with ham when the little jars of dried beef became too expensive for a budget meal. Sometimes we would swap our Shingle for mashed potatoes.

SPAM might be another option for an emergency shelf version.

We used to save the little jars that the Armour dried beef came in, the ones with the stars around the rim, and use them as juice glasses. My childhood was a very low budget operation!

Sometimes I make biscuits but then it's biscuits and gravy. lol

I've saved the Kraft pimento and cheese spread glasses for juice glasses even though we have nice glasses.