Mason-Dixon Recipes

Frizzled Beef

Duke Forrest: [holds up a piece of toast dripping creamed chipped beef] You forgot your shingle, doctor.

         — Tom Skerritt as Duke Forrest, MASH, 1970

There is evidence, through oral tradition, that this is an old Pennsylvania Dutch recipe. Simply the fact that it can be found in every restaurant in that area should be enough to deduce the location of it’s roots. It was served in the military during WWII and was nicknamed 'SOS'. It has also been called creamed chipped beef, creamed dried beef, or dried beef and gravy. It was certainly common as a farm product since the beef was dried to preserve it. It is salt cured, a common curing process for meats, and can be eaten without cooking.

INGREDIENTS

1 pkg dried beef
1 cup milk
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
1 tbsp beef gravy mix 1 tsp black pepper
¹/₄ tsp salt

DIRECTIONS

Melt butter in a saucepan. Slowly add milk, stirring constantly. Stir in flour, beef gravy mix, salt and heat to a boiling point.

Add dried beef, warm, and then remove and serve over toast points.

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