" The" Creamed Dried Beef/Chipped Beef Recipe

This is a long-time favorite recipe of our Lancaster County, PA family passed down from my mom. She gets requests for it all the time and has to make double or triple this amount now whenever she makes it so everyone has some to take along home too. For me, it's a true comfort food if there ever was one! We always serve it over toast and/or homefried potatoes. My dad refer's to it as S.O.S. from his days in the service. (Recipe makes about 4 servings for our hungry family but it freezes very well so any leftovers won't go to waste.)

• Ready In: 1 hr 15 mins
• Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1⁄2 lb  dried beef (chipped, available at your grocer's deli counter)
• 1⁄2 cup butter
• 1  cup flour
• 3 1⁄2 cups milk (I use whole milk and even some heavy cream to make it thick & creamy)
•  black pepper (to taste)

Directions

1. Melt butter in 2 quart (non-stick) sauce pan or larger.
2. Shred dried beef by hand into small pieces.
3. Add dried beef to melted butter and cook over medium-high heat until edges curl (about 10 minutes but watch carefully-don't burn it).
4. Stir in flour and mix thoroughly.
5. Add milk, reduce heat to medium low and continue stirring frequently until mixture is smooth & bubbly. (Depending on how thick you like it, it may take from 20 minutes to 1 hours to achieve desired consistency).
6. When it's as thick as you'd like, bring to a boil, stirring constantly and boil 1 minute.
7. Remove from heat and serve over toast and/or home fried potatoes.