Chip Beef Gravy

Note: Chip Beef is another name for dried beef. Look for shelf-stable dried beef in the canned meat section and refrigerated dried beef (packaged in plastic bags) in the lunch meat case at grocery stores nationwide. I have always used the refrigerated dried beef not because of any particular reason, but Mama always bought this type and I followed suit. One of Brit's favorite breakfast foods hot off the stove and spread over biscuits -- always one of her first food requests when visiting. So cute! :)



Ingredients:
1 package of dried beef (I prefer Hormel)
1 stick of butter (unsalted is a must as dried beef is very salty)
flour
milk
half and half or heavy cream

 

Directions:
Bring out a large cast iron skillet -- perfect in making this recipe as it heats to a very high temperature, therefore, bringing out the flavor of the roux technique that must be done correctly to make this gravy great rather than so-so. However, if you do not have a cast iron skillet, use a heavy large Teflon.

Chop into small pieces the entire package of dried beef. I take a pair of kitchen scissors and cut, cut, cut! Else spread across a chopping board and chop into small pieces. Heat the skillet slightly then add (depending on how much gravy you want to make) anywhere from a half stick of butter (again unsalted) to a full stick. I just use the entire stick -- leftovers are nice!

Brown the dried beef in the butter for a bit -- the beef will start to get "crisp", I'm guessing because of the salt content. At this point, you will start to add flour to the melted butter and dried beef. With a wooden spoon, stir as you add the flour. IMPORTANT: Only add enough flour until it "almost" soaks up the butter (since you used 1/2 cup butter, gradually add 1/2 cup of flour). Do not dump the entire amount of flour in, but rather add a little at a time, soaking up the butter gradually. If, for some reason, there is way too much "standing" butter in the skillet, then add small amounts of flour until it and the dried beef move easily while stirring. (You want the mixture to move around easily in the skillet -- you don't want it to look like a totally dried or runny mess which I have managed to do too often myself). The same goes for gradually adding butter in case you've added too much flour. At this point, you are now trying to master the roux technique! It's sometimes tricky because if you go too far with the browning, your gravy will have a burned taste -- so it's really a matter of practice. Be patient, my children, you'll eventually get it down perfectly! To understand exactly what "roux" means, below is the description:

Roux /ˈruː/) is a cooked mixture of wheat flour and fat,  traditionally clarified butter. It is the thickening agent of three of the mother sauces of classical French cooking:  sauce béchamel, sauce velouté and sauce espagnole., Butter, vegetable oils, or lard are commonly used fats. It is used as a thickener for gravy, other sauces, soups and stews. It is typically made from equal parts of flour and fat by weight. When used in Italian food, roux is traditionally equal parts of butter and flour. In Cajun cuisine, roux is almost always made with oil instead of butter and dark brown in color, which lends much richness of flavor albeit less thickening power. Hungarian cuisine uses lard (in its rendered form) or - more recently - vegetable oil instead of butter for the preparation of roux (which is called rántás in Hungarian).

OK -- now that you understand that typically a roux is equal parts of butter and flour used as a thickening agent, keeping your stove temperature (gas or electric) at medium high here's what you do:

Constantly stir the mixture until it takes on a deep peanut butter color. This takes a little while. You will start to slightly smell the flour -- it will start to smell a little burned. Stop at this point, pull the skillet off the burner. Add whole or skim milk into the hot roux mixture -- stirring constantly while off the burner. At first it will look like a total big old mess -- lumpy, way too thick, but no worries.....keep adding the milk until you can get this mess smooth (it will thin and smooth as you add the milk). Once you can stir it in this state (thin and smooth), return it to the medium high burner -- stirring constantly. It will, of course, continue to thicken -- add half and half at this point. Cook until you think the consistency is perfect to spread over the bread/biscuits you are serving. Turn the burner off and you're ready for some chip beef gravy!!!

Oh -- make sure somewhere in all this long-drawn out process you remembered to preheat your oven and time the biscuits to finish baking at the same time you finish up the gravy!

Well done!