Veterans Day is coming up on November 11th. We wanted a recipe especially suited to veterans and found that a lot of our vets still enjoy SOS, which is a concoction of ground beef in a roux* that is served over toast. I have made it many times and usually serve it over mashed potatoes (yumm!) or rice. This recipe, USMC SOS, comes from Allrecipes.com. One of their members commented: “I have made SOS before, but it was made with chipped beef. I also added garlic, onion, and Worcestershire. No soy sauce as this was plenty salty. Husband wanted more, but son had scooped up the last of it!”
SouthernLiving.com says, “A pork butt is the ultimate multi-tasking meal. A 4- to 5-pound pork butt can feed a dozen folks at once or a family of four for a few meals. And the great thing about this one? You don’t need a special smoker or grill. Your oven will do the work. This recipe takes its inspiration from low-and-slow barbecue cooking, but instead, it’s cooked in the oven until it’s fork-tender. A delicious sweet-and-smoky barbecue rub made of brown sugar, smoked paprika, and other spices imbues the meat with flavor as it cooks, and gives it a delectable, sticky-sweet crust. Your kitchen will smell amazing as the meat roasts all afternoon in the oven.”
Ree Drummond of The Pioneer Woman.com has some wonderful recipes, including one called Sausage Breakfast Casserole. This one is an “easy make-ahead breakfast casserole.” It just might be suited to a special breakfast for our Veterans!
Beth Walters contributed Evie’s Garlic Cheese Grits to First Presbyterian’s Treasures and Pleasures, one of our very favorite cookbooks.
Joyce Lampp’s Cranberry Salad is a winner! It is sweet and tangy and crunchy. It is very, very good, and it goes well with any kind of pork, including ham, and turkey or chicken.
The Three-Day Coconut Cake is contributed by Isabel Beach, a reader in Summerville, SC, who just happens to be my sister. This cake is really meant for special occasions. It is a joyful event all by itself. The hardest part is that you have to leave it alone for three days to age properly in the refrigerator. Well, you are supposed to leave it alone… this is easier said than done. She just made one a week ago for a community get-together and said it was about nine inches high!
USMC SOS
Recipe from ALLRECIPES.COM
1 pound ground beef
1-1/2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup beef broth
1/2 cup evaporated milk
Salt and pepper to taste
1) Brown the ground beef in a medium skillet over medium-high heat until meat is no longer pink. Drain excess fat and set aside. 2) Melt the butter or margarine in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Slowly add the flour, stirring constantly, to form a brown roux*. 3) Pour in beef broth and milk, mixing well. Add ground beef, then season with salt and pepper to taste.
*Roux (pronounced ROO) is so simple, but so versatile. It is made: 1 part oil or fat and 1 part all-purpose flour, by weight. Then slowly pour in the milk and broth, stirring constantly.
SOUTHERN LIVING’S
OVEN-ROASTED PORK BUTT
Recipe from SOUTHERNLIVING.COM
4 teaspoons seasoned salt
2 teaspoons dark brown sugar
1-1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
1-1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon dry mustard
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
0.0625 teaspoon ground ginger
(no kidding! Or about 1/16th of
a teaspoon, or a teensy bit!)
1 4- to 5-pound bone-in Boston butt pork roast
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Stir together salt, brown sugar, granulated sugar, paprika, garlic powder, pepper, dry mustard, cumin, and ginger in a medium bowl. 2) Trim one (4- to 5-pound) Boston butt pork roast. Pat dry. 3) Sprinkle with seasoning mixture. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes. 4) Place pork in an aluminum foil-lined (12 x 9-inch) pan. Bake 4 to 4-1/2 hours or until a meat thermometer inserted into thickest portion registers 195 degrees Fahrenheit. Let stand 15 minutes. Shred pork with two forks.
SAUSAGE BREAKFAST CASSEROLE
Recipe from ThePioneerWoman.com
Butter or nonstick spray
1 pound breakfast sausage,
such as Jimmy Dean
4 scallions, chopped, white and
green parts divided
1 red bell pepper, chopped
10 eggs
1-1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons hot sauce, optional
1-1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided (8-ounce portions)
1 30-ounce package frozen shredded hash browns, thawed
1) Grease 9 x 13-inch (or other 3-quart) baking dish with butter or nonstick spray. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 2) Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and break up into small pieces with a wooden spoon. Cook the meat until no pink pieces remain, about 6-8 minutes. Add the red bell pepper and white and light-green parts of the scallions, and cook 3 more minutes. Transfer to a plate to let cool slightly. 3) Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, heavy cream, mustard, hot sauce, salt, black pepper and about one-half of the remaining green parts of the scallions (save the rest to sprinkle on top of the casserole once baked.) Gently fold 1-1/2 cups of cheese, the hash-browns, and the sausage mixture into the egg mixture. Transfer all to the baking dish and smooth into an even layer. 4) Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 50 minutes. Remove the foil, and top with the remaining 1/2-cup of cheese. Increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees and finish baking until the center of the casserole is set (not jiggly) and the top is slightly golden, 10-15 more minutes. Let rest 10 minutes, top with the remaining green parts of the scallions, then serve.
BETH WALTERS’ EVIE’S
GARLIC CHEESE GRITS
Recipe from First Presbyterian Church of Apopka, Treasures and Pleasures
1 cup fine grits (cook according to package directions)
1 stick butter
1 roll garlic cheese
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup milk
Salt to taste
Tabasco sauce to taste
1/2 pound sharp cheese, shredded
Paprika
Melt garlic cheese in butter. Mix and season to taste with salt and Tabasco sauce. Mix eggs and milk together and stir in grits. Stir in melted garlic cheese mixture. Pour into casserole. Top with shredded cheese and sprinkle with paprika. Bake at 300 degrees for 40 minutes. Serves six.
JOYCE LAMPP’S
CRANBERRY SALAD
Recipe from Reader of The Apopka Chief and The Planter newspapers
1 small package Cranberry Jello
2 small packages Lemon Jello
1 cup sugar
3 cups hot water
1 can whole cranberry sauce
1 cup crushed pineapple (not drained)
1 cup pineapple juice
1 cup celery, chopped
1 cup pecans, chopped
Dissolve Jello and sugar in three cups hot water. Add whole cranberry sauce; stir until all is dissolved. Add pineapple juice. Stir in crushed pineapple, chopped celery and nuts. Pour into dish or mold. Refrigerate until firm.
ISABEL BEACH’S
THREE-DAY COCONUT CAKE
Recipe from Reader of The Apopka Chief and The Planter newspapers
1 cup butter flavor Crisco or
Parkay margarine
2 cups sugar
5 eggs
3-1/2 cups White Lily Self-Rising
flour, sifted before measure
1 cup milk or coconut milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour and milk alternately. Add vanilla. Pour batter in three 9-inch pans. Line each pan bottom with a circle of wax paper. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Cool. Mix filling as follows.
Filling:
2 cups frozen coconut, thawed
2 cups sour cream
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
First, use two long lengths of plastic wrap to lay on the cake plate, then build the cake up from there with enough wrap to pull up the sides and lay on top to seal over the finished cake. Split all three cake layers with thread so you end up with six layers.
Put filling in between all layers but NOT on top. Then you frost the outside and top with stiff whipped cream or Cool Whip. Wash your hands well, then pack the coconut up the sides and on top of the cake. Sprinkle two cups coconut all over the top and around the sides of the cake. The coconut keeps the plastic from sticking. Cake will be about 8-9 inches tall when finished. Refrigerate for three days.
