Shit on a Shingle

Another story from Dex about good ol' Navy chow.

"How many times over the years has your wife prepared some meal, or your friends mentioned some dish and your mind drifted back to a day long ago when you remember a grinning cook saying, "Man are you ugly bastards gonna like this… Learned from a stew burner off the Clamagore… You're gonna love this stuff… Meatloaf a la SUBRON 4."

And it was every bit as great as advertised.?

Compared to the seagoing monsters they bolt together today, a smoke-belching fleet-boat was small. Small boats with a single crew become a kind of communal order with a tribal hierarchy. We had a tribal king… A medicine man and some witch doctors who wore aprons and worked their magic in stainless steel pots and baking trays in a galley no woman would tolerate in today's modern appliance world. Hell, kitchens in house trailers are bigger than the huts our witch doctors operated out of.

Boat cooks were the best… Any ship that got a cook with the hull numbers of submarines listed as previous duty stations, held a three day prayer meeting to thank the almighty for bestowing such a gift on them. I don't know what the next level of proficiency is just above 'Totally gahdam magnificent', but that was what they were… Not at the time, but later when we had grown older and had the experience and the ability to make the comparisons necessary to recognize truly gifted cooks. At the time, they were a bunch of loudmouth jerks in dirty aprons who spent far too much time telling you how much you were going to like what they had been spending the last three hours whipping up for your express delight. A good submarine cook can bake a tractor tire and make it taste great.

One of the favorites from any boat was called S.O.S. or "Shit on a Shingle". The dish is officially called Creamed Chipped Beef on Toast but, any sailor worth his weight know what it's really called. My wife made it for breakfast this morning and boy did it bring back memories! Here it is for you.

Enjoy! I had it, you got!
Subchef

Chipped Beef on Toast L 052 00

Yield 100
Portion 6 oz
Calories 169 cal
Carbohydrates 12 g
Protein 13 g
Fat 7 g
Cholesterol 15 mg
Sodium 1219 mg
Calcium 110 mg

Ingredient
BEEF,CHIPPED,DRIED,CHOPPED 7 lbs
WATER,WARM 1 gal
MILK,NONFAT,DRY 1-3/4 lbs
WATER,WARM 3 gal 3 qts
MARGARINE,SOFTENED 1-1/2 lbs
FLOUR,WHEAT,GENERAL PURPOSE 2-1/4 lbs
PEPPER,BLACK,GROUND 2 tbsp

Method
1. Separate dried beef slices, cut into 1-inch slices.
2. Place beef in 190 F. water. Soak 5 minutes. Drain thoroughly.
3. Reconstitute milk. Heat to just below boiling. DO NOT BOIL.
4. Combine butter or margarine with flour and pepper; add to milk, stirring constantly. Cook 5 minutes until thickened.
5. Add beef to sauce; blend well. CCP: Internal temperature must reach 145 F. or higher for 15 seconds. Hold for service at 140 F. or higher.