SOS

[Rocky Davis]

Here's the true test:

 

Forget Mess Hall vs. Dining Facility etc.

 

What do you call that officer at Bn. or that E-8 at Bn. level or the SFC at Company level that fixes things the rest of us break?

 

Do you call the Company level NCO the "Company Maintenance NCO" or do you call him the "Company Motor SGT (or Motor Daddy)?

 

Do you call the Battalion level Senior NCO the "Battalion Maintenance NCO" or do you call him the "Battalion Motor SGT (or Motor Daddy)?

 

Do you call the Battalion level Officer (CPT) the "Battalion Maintenance Officer or BMO" or do you call him the "Battalion Motor Officer?

 

I never used the word "Maintenance" to refer to those individuals. That's because everybody taught me to call them the Motor SGT, Bn. Motor SGT and BMO (or Bn. Motor Officer). In the same way, as a Tank Company XO (for 4 years, two different units), I was Company Mess Officer - as a defined responsibility by the Company Commander in supervisory position and overall responsible for the Mess Section, Mess Operations, the Company Mess Records and I was First Line NCOER Supervisor of the Company Mess Sergeant.

 

Later on, as a Battalion Support Platoon Leader (one year), I was assistant to the Battalion Officer (the S-4) and was placed in supervisory position and overall responsible for the Battalion Mess Section, Mess Operations.

 

After that, I became the Battalion S-4 and the chain and nomenclature was virtually the same.

 

I've used the terms ever since. Nobody's had any heartburn over it.

Edited October 29, 2009 by Rocky Davis

[Typhoid Maxx]

And back on topic-

 

Rocky - Took a recipe of the net for SOS and did it with the Worcester sauce & garlic salt not five minutes ago, served on toast.

 

All I can say is "meep". Delicious stuff.

 

Tell me, can it be frozen?

[Harold Jones]

Yes

[Typhoid Maxx]

Thanks. You Americans eat some pretty interesting food, from an European stand point. I've pretty much enjoyed everything I've copied of TN food threads so far.

[Murph]

Swanson's frozen is acceptable, I am not claiming great, or even good, but acceptable if you cannot make your own, or bribe someone to make you some. Still one of the best food items in a Mess Hall.

 

Agreed, but no place around town makes it.

[Murph]

Mike, if they leave off the eggs, I would be in heaven.

 

SOS is really easy to make at home. If you just don't want to cook, many restaurants do a credible job of it over biscuits.

 

Murph, there's a place up here named Whites, which has been open at the same location since the 30's. They make a breakfast called The Mess, which is hash browns mixed with scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, onion and green pepper, covered with a sausage SOS style gravy. It's way too big for one normal person to eat, and costs about $8, IIRC.

 

There is something about the military setting for some items, though. I love a good omlette, and just about any competent eatery can turn out a decent one, but the one that sticks out in my mind was in our hospital mess hall in Germany. For the oncoming night shift, the young lady who was cooking made a ham and cheese omlette that I haven't seen the equal of anywhere. That, with hash browns, toast, and coffee, fueled many a night shift in Augsburg.

 

So, do people prefer their SOS with ground beef, sausage, or chipped beef? I like all three.

[Michael Eastes]

Mike, if they leave off the eggs, I would be in heaven.

 

The eggs are optional.

 

Maxx, I have long believed that the UK is something of a wasteland where food is concerned. We of Sam have the great advantage of having the culinary styles of the whole world to have experimented on over the last 200 years or so, with many, many good outcomes.

 

I admit that my wife and I only had four days in London to go on, but the only really good meal that we had was at a Chinese place. I gather that many of USian ilk have had less-than-stellar experiences with British food- I almost never hear tourists raving about the gustatory delights of Great Britain, although there certainly must be some. My dad used to tell stories of being fed stewed kidneys for breakfast every morning on the British ship that took his unit over in '44. I'd prefer even poorly made SOS to stewed kidneys.

[shep854]

"Stewed kidneys"--Beans or organs??

[Mike Steele]

The eggs are optional.

 

Maxx, I have long believed that the UK is something of a wasteland where food is concerned. We of Sam have the great advantage of having the culinary styles of the whole world to have experimented on over the last 200 years or so, with many, many good outcomes.

 

I admit that my wife and I only had four days in London to go on, but the only really good meal that we had was at a Chinese place. I gather that many of USian ilk have had less-than-stellar experiences with British food- I almost never hear tourists raving about the gustatory delights of Great Britain, although there certainly must be some. My dad used to tell stories of being fed stewed kidneys for breakfast every morning on the British ship that took his unit over in '44. I'd prefer even poorly made SOS to stewed kidneys.

Thats funny because my mom was English and she was a great cook. That might be because she managed to escape the Emerald Isle and try new things. But I didn't have stuff like steak and kidney pie. She was big on Spam though though, thought it was the pinnacle of culinary excellence.

[Rocky Davis]

And back on topic-

 

Rocky - Took a recipe of the net for SOS and did it with the Worcester sauce & garlic salt not five minutes ago, served on toast.

 

All I can say is "meep". Delicious stuff.

 

Tell me, can it be frozen?

 

 

Glad it turned out. For additional spices, make sure to add plenty of cracked black pepper and maybe a dash or two of hot Hungarian paprika.

[Typhoid Maxx]

Glad it turned out. For additional spices, make sure to add plenty of cracked black pepper and maybe a dash or two of hot Hungarian paprika.

 

Check on the coarse, crushed black pepper, already in the first batch. Next batch is going to have sweet paprika in it, though wither it'll be beef or pork...

 

Wonder how Cayenne pepper instead of paprika might turn out...

 

Regardless, SOS really comes across as breakfast get-your-strength-up-for the-day type meal.

[Typhoid Maxx]

The eggs are optional.

 

Maxx, I have long believed that the UK is something of a wasteland where food is concerned. We of Sam have the great advantage of having the culinary styles of the whole world to have experimented on over the last 200 years or so, with many, many good outcomes.

 

Hmmm...it depends. The tourist track isn't really London, and tends to be gimmicky.

 

London has quite sizable foreign cultural influence within it as any major western city

 

I could show you a few places were you'd think your mouth had died and gone to heaven. Not expensive places, either. .

 

But yes, the US definitively has had many, many good outcomes (from what I can see). Unfortunately the perception over here of that is negligible - America is culinary perceived by people as the nation of McDonald's (EVIL), Pizza Hut, Chicago's Deep pan, KFC...and that's about it.

[Guest aevans]

Maxx, I have long believed that the UK is something of a wasteland where food is concerned. We of Sam have the great advantage of having the culinary styles of the whole world to have experimented on over the last 200 years or so, with many, many good outcomes.

 

Hehe. But Australia isn't so bad. In 1987 I had lunch in a food court in downtown Perth, Western Australia. I observed a white Australian man eating Chinese and an Asian lady eating roast beef, mashed potatoes, and peas.

 

WRT the "mess hall"/"dining facility" controversy, I prefer the Marine Corps term: "chow hall". And they still call it the "mess deck" on navy ships.

[Geoff Winnington-Ball]

Rocky - Took a recipe of the net for SOS and did it with the Worcester sauce & garlic salt not five minutes ago, served on toast.

 

Praytell. do pass along the url for that recipe, there's a good lad... I haven't had the damned stuff since I was a young'un...

[Typhoid Maxx]

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,165,133187-253193,00.html is the one I used, but with garlic salt instead of salt, and 6 shakes of Worcester sauce (both suggested by Rocky).

 

Twas yummy yummy yummy on full grain toast. (Put an over easy fried egg on top of one).

 

I can see myself eating that for breakfast, plus strong filter coffee and a glass of orange juice - then going out side and knocking out God, Godzilla, The Incredible Hulk and King Kong, in that order.

Edited November 1, 2009 by Maxx

[Typhoid Maxx]

Most other recipes I had a look at on the net advocated bullion cubes and chicken stock. The meal I ate does not require that crap.

[Rocky Davis]

Basic recipe:

 

Brown 1/2 lb. lean ground beef in skillet. If you want onions, throw them in there when you brown the beef. Add garlic salt or salt-oriented "seasoning salt" and plenty of cracked black pepper. When the ground beef has been browned, lift the beef (and onions, if you added such) and place on a plate with a paper towel underneath to drain. Leave the meat juices in the skillet. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of flour to the grease left in the skillet and make a rue, stirring constantly. When the rue thickens, add milk and stir in and make your cream (white) gravy. Keep stirring. As the gravy starts to bubble, add the meat/onion mix back in. Add a few shakes of Worcestershire sauce. Reduce heat to medium and keep stirring. Add more cracked black pepper and seasoning or garlic salt to your taste . . . keep stirring! If it is to thick, add more milk and stir until desired thickness of gravy comes about.

 

Turn fire off and cover while you make toast OR pull hot biscuits out of the oven. Stir again before serving over the toast or biscuits.

Edited November 2, 2009 by Rocky Davis

[Michael Eastes]

Hmmm...it depends. The tourist track isn't really London, and tends to be gimmicky.

 

London has quite sizable foreign cultural influence within it as any major western city

 

I could show you a few places were you'd think your mouth had died and gone to heaven. Not expensive places, either. .

 

But yes, the US definitively has had many, many good outcomes (from what I can see). Unfortunately the perception over here of that is negligible - America is culinary perceived by people as the nation of McDonald's (EVIL), Pizza Hut, Chicago's Deep pan, KFC...and that's about it.

 

I'm mainly talking about English-style food. The Chinese place we tried was very good ( when they found out that we were Americans, they removed us from the main part of the restaurant, and took us upstairs, where we were the only non-Asians in the room - I'm not sure why they took us to the "good part" of the place, but it worked out well for us ), and I understand that many ethnic places are quite good. We were short of cash, though, and budgeted more for books than food. We ate more pub food than anything else.

 

I'd love to go back to see London again, though, even if I was only allowed bangers and mash and the odd ploughman's lunch.

 

I doubt that you can find the real thing over there, but I'm willing to bet that you would appreciate Tex-Mex food.

[Typhoid Maxx]

I doubt that you can find the real thing over there, but I'm willing to bet that you would appreciate Tex-Mex food.

 

You got me figured straight.

 

As for the English food - pub food is English style food, emphasis on the style, rather than English...or even food. Mash potato from a bag, gravy granules, water filled "sausages" and chips from a frozen economy bag...Britain's version of cheep and cheerful, and not even that popular any more. Hardly surprising.

 

A well prepared leg of lamb, with garlic and Rosemary, and roast potatoes coated in goose fat with homemade gravy from the drippings, a Beef Wellington or a Yorkshire hot pot are all wonders to be consumed with delight; sadly, few places make them for public consumption, or make them well.

[Mike Steele]

You got me figured straight.

 

......

A well prepared leg of lamb, with garlic and Rosemary, and roast potatoes coated in goose fat with homemade gravy from the drippings, a Beef Wellington or a Yorkshire hot pot are all wonders to be consumed with delight; sadly, few places make them for public consumption, or make them well.

 

That sounds like my mothers cooking.....Hummmmm

[Michael Eastes]

You got me figured straight.

 

As for the English food - pub food is English style food, emphasis on the style, rather than English...or even food. Mash potato from a bag, gravy granules, water filled "sausages" and chips from a frozen economy bag...Britain's version of cheep and cheerful, and not even that popular any more. Hardly surprising.

 

A well prepared leg of lamb, with garlic and Rosemary, and roast potatoes coated in goose fat with homemade gravy from the drippings, a Beef Wellington or a Yorkshire hot pot are all wonders to be consumed with delight; sadly, few places make them for public consumption, or make them well.

 

Our visit was in '78, so the pub food might have been a bit better, then. I was happy enough with it- I just couldn't figure out why everything, including a breakfast omlette, came with a side dish of peas.

 

I am definitely a lover of well-cooked lamb, but since my wife is 1/2 Armenian, we have it middle eastern style, instead of the British way, most often. My grandmother used to turn out a roast beef with Yorkshire pudding and gravy that makes me feel sad to remember, since I can never have it again from her kitchen. I also like beef Wellington, although I haven't seen it on a menu here in over 30 years. Maybe I just can't afford the sort of places that make it properly.

 

If you've never had TexMex food, we really must get you across the Atlantic sometime. There are good places for it even up here nowadays, but for the Real Deal, you need to check out my old home state of Texas. I'm sure that Rocky or Murph could take you to a proper place.

[ShotMagnet]

My last visit was in '93, the food was as described. I did take a shine to Scotch eggs, but that was it.

 

I'm not particularly fussy about this sort of thing, either. So long as you don't put offal in front of me, I'll probably eat it. Still, 'to everything there is a season...' and so on, which is to say that:

 

1) Corn does not belong on pizza;

 

2) Sauce with your spaghetti is a requirement, not an option;

 

3) A 'cake' is something that has been baked, which a Chorley (spelling uncertain) Cake isn't and therefore doesn't qualify as a cake.

 

 

As for SOS, watch the flour carefully. What you're doing is creating a roux; what you want to avoid is letting the flour get too brown. You want what they call a blonde roux; you're attempting to control the caramelization of the sugars in the flour, the darker it gets the more the sugars have caramelized. You don't want it to get dark, you want it light so that the cream sauce you're creating will itself be light in color. It probably won't adversely affect the taste if you let the roux get too dark, but it won't look right.

 

Don't skip the onions, and don't think of them as an option. They're a requirement, and if you somehow manage to throw in some (not too much) garlic paste I can't see how that would hurt the matter.

 

 

Shot

[Typhoid Maxx]

Lean pork, red onions, flour, garlic salt, paprika, plenty of crushed black pepper, made creamy. Just finished a batch, served on brown bread.

 

Just the right level of spicy hot, but with layers of taste to it. Good stuff, its a keeper (though doubtless what I'm making isn't exactly right).

[Harold Jones]

If it tastes good to you and the people you serve it to it's right. That it might or might not taste exactly like the creamed beef the Panzer Kaserne mess hall served in 1990 really doesn't enter into it.

[Typhoid Maxx]

Oh Amen to that; just saying.