S.O.S. Show

Lori’s S.O.S.
1 pound stew beef or sirloin tips (cut in 1 inch cubes)
8 oz. dried shitake mushrooms or fresh mushroom or your choice
1 small green pepper, diced
3 Tablespoons flour
2 Tablespoons sherry
½ stick butter
2 cups milk (whole)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 Tablespoon oil

To rehydrate shitake mushrooms:  place dried mushrooms in a bowl of hot water for approximately 30 minutes.  (A lot of the mushroom flavor will be in the water, so feel free to add a little to your sauce for extra flavor).

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Whisk in flour and cook 2-3 minutes.  Slowly whisk in milk and simmer mixture, stirring until thick, about 7-10 minutes.  Take off heat.

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, cook the green pepper and mushrooms in the oil until browned and soft.  Add to sauce.  In same pan, quickly brown beef tips until cooked to your doneness (I like medium-rare); approx. 5 minutes.  Add meat to sauce. 

Deglaze pan with the sherry, carefully scraping out those brown bits from the bottom of the pan (this is the flavor).  Add to the sauce.  Stir mixture and taste for seasoning.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Serve over popovers, rice, mashed potatoes or biscuits.

Popovers
Makes 1 dozen

Unsalted butter, room temperature, for pan
1 and ½ cups milk
6 large eggs
1 and ½ cups all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoon confectioner’s sugar

Preheat oven to 425◦, with the rack in the lower third.  Generously butter a 12-cup popover tin (or muffin tin); set aside.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk and eggs.  Add the flour, salt, and sugar, and whisk until the mixture is the consistency of heavy cream (some small lumps may remain); do not overmix.

Fill each prepared cup with about 5 tablespoons of batter.  Bake until the popovers are very puffed and extended over the top of the tin by about 3 inches, about 30 minutes.  Immediately invert pan to remove popovers and serve. 

 

Chicken A la King

2 sticks butter
1 cup flour
4 cups chicken stock or broth
1 cup heavy cream
1 red pepper, diced
1 large whole, boneless, skinless chicken breast(cut into bite sized pieces)
8 oz. frozen peas
Salt and pepper to taste

In a Dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat.  Whisk in flour and cook 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly.  Slowly add chicken stock, whisking constantly until combined.  Add cream and whisk until smooth.  Place chicken cubes into sauce and allow to cook as sauce comes to a boil.  Stir occasionally.  When sauce is thick and bubbly, add the peas and cook an additional 2-3 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small sauté pan cook diced red peppers until brown and tender, about 5 minutes.  Add to the sauce.  Taste your sauce at this time and salt and pepper to your taste.  Serve over warm biscuits.

Baking Powder Biscuits
Makes 1 dozen

4 cups all purpose-flour, plus more for dusting
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, cold, cut into small pieces
2 cups heavy cream, plus more for brushing

Preheat the oven to 400◦.  In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.  Using a pasty blender, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with a few larger clumps remaining.

Pour in the heavy cream; using a rubber spatula, fold cream into the dough, working in all directions and incorporating crumbs at the bottom of the bowl, until the dough just comes together.  The dough will be slightly sticky.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface.  With floured fingers, gently pat the dough into a round about 1 inch thick, pressing in any loose bits.  Do not overwork the dough.  Use a floured 2 ¼ inch round biscuit cutter to cut out the biscuits as close together as possible.  (Use one cut edge for the next biscuit).

Place the biscuits on an unlined baking sheet about 1 ½ inches apart.  Generously brush the tops of the biscuits with cream.  Bake, rotating the sheet halfway through, until the biscuits are golden and flecked with brown spots, 20 to 25 minutes.  Transfer the biscuits to a wire rack to cool.

Brown Sugar Plums with Ice Cream
Serves 4

4 plums or other fruit of your choice
4 Tablespoons butter
¼ cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons dark rum (optional)
1 pint vanilla or other ice cream

Halve and pit the plums, then cut them into slices about ½ inch thick.

In a large frying pan over medium heat, melt the butter.  Add the plums, brown sugar and rum and sauté until they are lightly browned and the sugar has caramelized, about 5 minutes.

To serve, scoop ice cream into pretty glasses or bowls.  Top each with the warm plums and the wonderful sauce.  Serve at once.