Food Memories: Creamed Chipped Beef {Recipe Redux}

The good people at Recipe Redux have a knack for picking out fun themes every month. This month it’s a food memory for which we are thankful. I knew right away what I would pick: Creamed Chipped Beef. It was a favorite meal as a child and one I’d ask for when my birthday rolled around. My mother served it on toast with shoestring potatoes and peas. My sister and brother have fond memories of this meal as well.

One holiday season after I became a single mother, I found myself alone at Christmas. My sister was also alone as her husband was on deployment. Guess what we had for Christmas dinner? That’s right…Creamed Chipped Beef with Shoestring Potatoes! We ate it in front of the TV while watching a favorite movie, “Willow“(affiliate link), and reminiscing over Christmases and meals past. {There may also have been a few adult beverages involved…}

My mother would have used a highly processed product that’s very thinly sliced and sold in a bag in the lunch meat section. The last time I bought it, it looked like it had been chopped and formed with something resembling beef. It definitely didn’t taste the way I remembered. That sort of product isn’t available to me here in Spain. Instead, I used a product called Cecina de Vaca which is cured, dehydrated beef sliced very thin. The slices were cut into thin strips. After sauteing some diced onion the cecina is added to the skillet and heated through. Then it’s just a matter of making a simple pan gravy with flour and milk. I served mine over freshly made baking powder biscuits and enjoyed every bite!

Instead of shoestring potatoes I opted to use sweet potato, carrot and beets as a change from potatoes. I cooked them all separately and I’m glad I did as the results were very uneven. The sweet potato fried up nicely; crispy outside and tender inside. The carrot had a good flavor, but didn’t get crisp. And the beets! Well, they got tough rather than crisp and shrank in size. Next time I’ll try cutting them into disks instead of fries. Live and learn.

Creamed Chipped Beef

This was a favorite childhood meal that tastes just as good now that I'm middle aged.

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Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes minutes

Servings: 2 - 4 servings

Author: LydiaF

Ingredients

• 3 - 4 ounces cecina or thinly sliced dried beef cut into thin strips (about a cup, loosely packed)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil butter (or a mix of the two)
• 1 medium onion diced
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup milk or cream
• salt pepper, cayenne pepper or smoky paprika to taste
• Biscuits or toasted bread

Instructions

• In a large skillet, saute the onions in the olive oil/butter mix until they soften and begin to change color.
• Add the chipped beef and stir to coat in the fat.
• Sprinkle the flour over the onions and chipped beef and stir well. Let it cook for a couple minutes and change color.
• Add the milk and stir well to combine and form the gravy. If too thick, add more milk a couple tablespoons at a time until the gravy is thick and smooth.
• Season to taste. I like to use salt, pepper and smoky paprika or cayenne pepper.
• Serve over biscuit or toast.
• When reheating any leftovers, stir in a little milk to loosen the gravy.

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Recipe ReDux is composed of a group of like-minded bloggers with an interest in eating healthy and well. Click on the logo in the upper left of the page to learn more about them. Please visit my blogging friends to see what their favorite comfort foods are. What’s yours? Tell me in the comments!