Homemade Beef Hash with a Fried Egg and Horseradish Sauce

Breakfast is the best meal of the day. No really it is. While in California recently I had homemade real roast beef hash and I was reminded how good this can be. It was made with the crusty bits from the Prime rib the restaurant serves and came with eggs and a delicious hollandaise that was amazing.

My home version of this can be made with any scraps of beef that you might have. Left over steak, Roast Beef, even Short Ribs which is what I used. The key is to have shredded potatoes which you can make easily with a grater or buy in a bag. And the other key is to flavor the beef and potato mixture with lots of garlic and thyme and seasoning salt really well. I returned from my European vacation with a bottle of Maggi seasoning in tow. It's a flavoring salt that adds a depth of flavor to all sorts of things. It's really good.

I also skipped the hollandaise and opted for a sour cream based horseradish sauce that just really amped up the dish. Below is the recipe. Go crazy!!

Homemade Beef Hash and Eggs

4 eggs which you will fry sunny-side up or use a ring mold like I did and cook to fit directly on the stack of hash you will make.

2 cups potatoes shredded
1 cup really finely diced onions
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 /2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon Maggi or Season salt
1 few shakes of worchestershire sauce
1 1/2 cup chopped left over beef

Fry potatoes and onions till crispy and brown
Add beef and seasonings
mix well.
When heated through and ready to serve press mixture into 4, 4 inch ring molds set on 4 plates
Top with the fried eggs
Garnish with paprika and chopped parsley
Serve with horseradish sauce
( note you can just served this on a plate without a ring mold works just fine)

Horseradish Sauce

1 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons drained prepared horseradish
Salt and pepper to taste

Avocado 12 Grain Toast ,Fried Egg and Bacon

Ok these days every place in New York with Brunch Menus trying to ride the edge of cool is putting an avocado toast on their menu.

And why not the simplicity and rich taste combinations you get from humble ingredients make for a delicious and hearty brunch or breakfast dish.

I offer up my version of this dish as an homage to all the delicious egg dishes being prepared by chefs in brunch establishments all over the country. It's an easy homemade dish as well and will thrill kids and adults alike. Plus it's pretty healthy minus the bacon. Avocado is a good source of protein and healthy fats. However to achieve a really good avocado toast I find it's really about layering flavors down to seasoning the toast that achieves a really great version of this dish. Let me break it down for you.

Bacon:

Take two pieces thick cut bacon and bake at 400 degrees till done about 10 mins. Cook till desired doneness

Toast:

Generously Butter 2 pieces of 12 grain bread and season with herb seasoning salt (there are several of these you can buy on the market. I use an Italian version with thyme and rosemary in it)
Turn on pan and grill the bread over medium heat till toasted and golden brown.  Hold warm

Egg:

Fry an egg sunny side up (I used a metal mold to make the shape more concentrated) Salt and pepper the egg before assembling.

Avocado:

Mash 1 ripe avocado with 2 tablespoons sour cream (can leave out) and season well with sea salt (Maldon), and red pepper flakes to taste

To assemble cut one toast in half and palce on plate on either side of the full piece of toast to form a nice shape. Spoon Avocado mixture onto each piece of bread

Top with Egg in the center and garnish with the two bacon strips criss crossed like the picture above to one side of the yolk.

This makes one serving

Enjoy Ya'll!

Funeral Potatoes, A Hashbrown Casserole to Die For!

Now this is about as Americana a recipe as you can get. But I'll tell you what, there is nothing quite as addictive as this stuff. I mean creamy, fatty, delicious potatoes drowned in a rich sauce that just makes you happy.

This recipe has been done by so many ladies all over the country for years and years with small variations in each individual recipe. I think it's one of those recipes that's made an appearance in every ladies auxilary organization and church cookbook from Florida to Alaska. And hashbrown casserole makes it's appearance on holiday tables, dinner tables and even on the Cracker Barrel restaurant menus. It's a comforting, homey and delicious dish, which is why it probably has the name it has and is associated with a time in life when comfort is high on the menu.

I made this for some friends for a dinner this winter with some short ribs. Boy, was that a wintery comforting meal. So here's my version cream of mushroom soup and all. Enjoy.

Funeral Potatoes ( Hashbrown Casserole)
 Serves 4 to 6 people

Ingredients:

1 lb bag shredded hashbrowns
1 can mushroom soup (Campbell's)
1 cup dairy sour cream
3/4 cup milk plus a little more if too thick
12 oz of shredded yellow cheddar cheese
1 medium onion finely chopped
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon Aromat ( German seasoning salt, you could use Amino Acid Liquid Seasoning, this is my little addition to this recipe)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground Mace or Nutmeg
Crunchy onions as topping
Salt and pepper to taste



Method:

Divide the cheese leaving 4 ounces to top the casserole
Mix everything together in a large mixing bowl stirring well to combine, adding more milk if mixture is too thick. Should be pourable but not runny.
Pour into a 9x9 baking dish
Heat oven to 350 degrees
Sprinkle the top with the remaining cheese and some paprika for color
Bake covered with foil for 35 minutes then uncovered and place back in the oven for 15 minutes more or until the top is browned slightly
Enjoy.

Michigan Crack Coffee Cake and a Storied Wedding

Weddings are something that can bring out the best and worst in people both individually and collectively. As a caterer and Event manager I have seen my share of Brides, Mothers and Fathers acting out in the most insane and inappropriate of manners. True Bride-zillas I have only seen twice but the stories are varied and amazing.

Drunks, fights and screaming matches on the dance floor are par for the course. And let's not forget just plain old bad taste taken to the extreme on someone's special day. In short I hate weddings but I am kinda drawn to them because like a train wreck you just can't take your eyes off of them. Over the course of the years I have had friends ask me to help with their weddings and with one exception I have always politely declined. I just would never want to be responsible for one of my friend's special days. Too much pressure and the possibility of ruining a friendship, no thank you.

The most amazing story is from a wedding which was designed by a fellow in NYC, who we will call Eric. He's a great guy and very lovely to work with. This story started apparently when he was designing the wedding with the family. They were spending untold amounts of money on this wedding and during the planning process it became apparent the Bride was not very engaged in the whole thing. Instead of the usual involved, hands on manner most Brides take, this one simply did not seem to care if it was, "that shade of pink" or "that flower arrangement". Her mother did of course. Spending tons of cash to ensure a spectacle deserving her status and her daughters station. But the Bride was non plussed about the whole thing and this made Eric slightly suspect.

Well the big day came. The Pierre Hotel on Fifth Avenue had never looked so grand. The flowers, the music and the decor for the ceremony alone had cost a fortune. The Parents greeted their endless guest list as they arrived and waited for the ceremony to start. Eric went upstairs to check on the Bride who had strangely asked to be alone while she prepared not wanting the company of her entourage of dressers and bridesmaids.

As he approached the hotel room he could see that the door was slightly ajar, a strange sign he thought. He knocked. No response. He called out still no response. He slowly pushed the door open revealing the rooms contents. The Bride was no where to be found but on the bed was the dress and atop it a note and her ring. He lifted up the note and read these words, " Sorry Abe, I can't go through with it. Here's your ring back, Claire". Eric's heart sank into his shoes. There were 400 people waiting downstairs and the Bride was obviously not coming down. Oh Shit!

So he went downstairs and pulling the Groom and the Father of the Bride aside informed them gently of what was going on. The Groom was livid and was whisked away to a private room by his groomsmen with a bottle of brown liquor. The Father of the Bride seemed unmoved calm even. Eric explained that he needed to inform his guests, suggesting that perhaps the verbiage should be something akin to "I regret to inform you but my daughter has a had change of heart thank you for coming etc etc.". The Father shook his heard and said " Yeah Yeah Yeah....Got it". He then mounted the stage and took the mic hitting on it..."is this thing on".  Then he addressed the crowd. "I want to thank you all for coming today, to be with us, we spent a lot of money on this wedding and you can all go to the bar since it's paid for.... but there's no ceremony happening.... because my F&*%ing daughter FLED! Thanks!"

Now that's a wedding story!

Now as I said I have only helped one friend with a wedding and that would be my roommate of many years in NYC, Cristin Hubbard. Cristin is a Broadway actor and an amazing vocalist. She was also practically family. So when she became engaged I agreed to help put the reception together for her.

The wedding was set in upstate Michigan near the Sleeping Bear national seaside on the coast of northern Michigan. A fantastic place of natural wonder. The natural beauty aside the charm of the beach houses and the towns and the lovely natives were enough to entrance. It was a whole week of wedding activities with about 30 to 50 people, mostly family, participating. Cook outs on the beach at night followed by bonfires and sing alongs. Day trips in canoes and kyaks or antiquing. And a BBQ dinner after lake swimming and sun bathing.  A Buffet dinner at the house on the first night let to mornings spent over amazing breakfasts at the Bed and Breakfast.

This of course was coupled with the fact that I had agreed to help design and run the wedding. Her friend Mark also had agreed to help so between the two of us we came up with a plan. We visited the sight for the reception which was a rustic lodge building in a Church camp nearby the beach house she had spent every summer in growing up. A very connected and emotionally grounded choice, just like Cristin. Solid and soulful it hit the mark providing the perfect backdrop for a very special person's, special day. We visited the caterer, helped tweek a few menu items and service points and offered up my help the day of.

So then Mark and I armed with 3000 dollars in cash her father had given us set out to design and decorate the old Church Camp lodge for the reception. Aside from almost killing each other in the process we did an amazing job I think. White tuille and white christmas lights, flowers from a friends garden, sea glass and candles, blue, green, white and grey linens all came together to make a wonderful picture.

But it was Cristin, walking down the aisle of the church of her summer youth,  a beautiful family quilt adorning the altar, that really was the star of this wedding. She was the most stunning of Brides. The wedding and reception in their elegant simplicity were amazing. But the love so evident for these two people filling the room was the highlight of my experience of that wedding. I was moved beyond words. Hoping in my own heart that someday I might feel how she and her husband must have felt as the center of so much loving devotion. For after all, when the pomp and superficial things are stripped away, it's the love that makes a Wedding real. No show necessary if that is present. It speaks volumes louder than any floral arrangement or buffet dinner ever could.

So what has this to do with coffee cake you might ask? Well I discovered this recipe while staying at the bed and breakfast for this wedding. It's a simple almost stupid recipe and not an unknown or uncommon one. But I think if you try it you will agree it's addictive and ridiculously good! So I offer up with memories of weddings large and small. Memories of my dear friend from Michigan and this recipe. Enjoy Ya'll!

"Bob King Cake"

2 small tubes refrigerator buttermilk biscuits OR 1 tube Pillsbury Grands buttermilk biscuits 

3 Tbsp. butter melted

1/2 cup pancake syrup not real maple!

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Place all ingredients in a pan and melt together over low heat 

Place in the bottom of a bundt pan

layer biscuits overlapping in the pan

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 20 to 30 mins or until nice and brown on top

Invert onto a plate and yum yum yum!

BBQ Chillequilles Benedict with BBQ Beef, Poached Eggs, and Smoked Cheddar Hollandaise

I realize that it's a little past Cinco de Mayo but here's my Mexican recipe for the holiday week!
And again I am going to reference Snooze. Yes the San Diego eatery I was able to patronize twice while visiting that fair city. Last time I talked about the breakfast potpie. This time I am taking it South of the Border!

On the menu along with various "Benedict" dishes was a dish called "Chillequilles Benedict". Now chillequilles are a Mexican food which has it's roots in the street foods of that country. It's a very popular dish there, however, here in the states it's only widely known in California and some parts of the west and as of late also here in New York.

Essentially Chillequilles are a form of nachos. They are chips over which a green creamy sauce is poured and the dish is normally topped with a fried egg and maybe some meat. Like say chorizo sausage or something along those lines. They are quite good but the Snooze folks took this idea and took it a step further.

To make the Chillequilles Benedict they took tortillas, cut them into small rounds about the size of an english muffin. Dipped them in green sauce and stacked and baked them. Topped them with a pulled beef with Mexican spices and a poached egg. Then to finish it they pour a smoked gouda hollandaise over them and serve it with fresh salsa and some feta cheese. Oh my is it good.

To make this at home I changed it up a little bit. I wanted to combine mexican flavors and southern BBQ and make BBQ Chillequilles. The results were awesome. The rich flavors of chilles mixing with the deep smoke of both the BBQ and the cheddar was wonderful. SO here's the recipe, give it a try for brunch one day when you are up for a challenge. I kept is pretty simple using mostly premade foods which while not ideal makes for an easy as Sunday morning prep on this one. The hardest thing is poaching the eggs if you are near a Trader's Joes. (which is where I sourced all my stuff!) Enjoy!


BBQ Chillequilles Benedict with BBQ Beef, Poached Eggs, and Smoked Cheddar Hollandaise

*So you can start with large corn tortilla's and cut them with a ring mold of some kind or if your store has them you can use little mini tortillas.

Ingredients:

5 mini or cut tortillas per stack 2 stacks per person
1 jar or green salsa from trader joes and one can of green enchilada sauce combined
1 package of fresh salsa
3 onces of crumbled feta cheese
8 eggs
1 package of trader joe's hollandaise
6 oz shredded smoked cheddar cheese
3 tablespoons mayo
8 oz of BBQ beef brisket pre done or purchased

To Assemble:

Take the green sauce and place into a shallow dish
Dip each tortilla lightly in the sauce and on a baking sheet make 8 stacks of the moist tortillas
Top each stack with room temp BBQ beef
Place the stacks in a warm oven 300 degrees and start poaching the eggs
Add the hollandaise the cheese and the mayo to a small sauce pot and heat slowly till combined and creamy. If not fluid enough add a little water till desired consistency is achieved.
To prepare place the tortilla and beef stacks on plates.
Top with an egg and cover with a blanket of sauce
Serve with a dallop of Salsa and sprinkle with the feta. Serve with the hash browns from my blog about breakfast pot pie! Enjoy!

Breakfast Pot Pie a New Twist on Biscuits and Gravy

So my first entry about some of the exciting and fun foods that I saw and tasted in San Diego will start with this dish Breakfast Pot Pie. And why not, it's the first meal of the day so it's just seems fitting to start with it.

Now I LOVE biscuits and gravy. And as many who have had mine will tell you, I make a mean version. However, while in San Diego my friends Tom and George with whom I was staying took me out to one of their favorite places for breakfast and brunch. Snooze, the place is called, and is an interesting concept restaurant based in Denver that focuses on only Breakfast and Brunch foods and drinks served in a casual, yet very cool environment. We went twice to this place and each time we did it was packed and the wait was at least 40 minutes. I mean that's a buzz and success that most places ( including the not very busy one's surrounding Snooze) want to have.

Now let's be clear these people did not reinvent the wheel when it comes to breakfast foods, and in fact while the menu is interesting it does not step much out of the box in terms of foods that one would traditionally expect to find on a menu like this. It's more the manner in which the dishes are presented or the way that flavors are layered to give the overall dish a really great flavor effect. I mean let's face it there are only so many ways to fix eggs and pancakes but what you put on them or in them can take them from "Ordinary" to "Eggtraordinary", sorry couldn't resist that!

So to this dish. Now I have a real love for creamy delicious gravy based foods. Nope not apologizing! So when I saw this on the menu I knew I had to try it. Basically it's a portion of hash browned potatoes with a puff pasty raft tilted on it covered in a cream gravy flavored with sausage and rosemary and bits of carrots, celery, leeks and onion floating in it, topped with a sunny side up egg. Yum!

So while this seems and looks kinda complicated it is so not and if you want to impress your friends and family one morning with a breakfast or brunch dish that is different and delish this would be one to try. So here's the recipe as nearly as I can figure it. Enjoy ya'll!

Breakfast Pot Pie ala Snooze in San Diego

First thing you need is the gravy (makes about four cups)

For the Sausage Gravy:

Heat up 1 quart whole milk 

2 cloves minced garlic
2 leeks, cleaned and chopped (discarding leaves)
2 celery stalks (chopped)
1 sprig of rosemary (finely chopped)
1 lb. bulk breakfast sausage (browned and drained)
3 Tbs. unsalted butter
½ c parmesan cheese (grated)
½ c all purpose flour
Salt and pepper to taste 

Melt butter in a large heavy bottomed pot (Dutch oven or stock pot) over medium heat. Add leeks, carrots, celery, garlic, and rosemary and sauté until vegetables soften (about 10 min.). Stir in flour and continue to cook until the flour is well incorporated. At this point, stir in the cooked sausage, milk and parmesan cheese. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and allow to simmer (stirring occasionally) until the gravy thickens (about 10-15 min.). Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

For the Hash Browned Potatoes: 

Saute an onion in a good amount of oil and add 1 bag thawed shredded hash brown potatoes to the pan stir and cook then let the bottom brown to golden. Using a ring mold cut the potatoes into circles and using a spatula place on the plate.

For the Pastry: 

1 Sheet puff pastry rolled out to 1/4 of inch and then cut into 4 by 6 inch squares brush with egg wash place on a baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees till puffed and slightly browned. 

To assemble: 

Place a scoop or shaped round of hash browns on the plate, cook eggs sunny side up and place a pasty puff on each plate divide the gravy and top with the egg and garnish with a little paprika, Enjoy Ya'll! 

Easter Brunch, A Metaphor for Renewal

So Easter has come and gone. Easter has over my short adult awareness lifetime lost most of the clout it held as a holiday for us as Americans. I can chalk this up to various socializing and cultural factors as well as a decline in Christian Churches playing a healthy role in our societal fabric, without the Brew ha ha of many of today's Evangelical faiths and the polarizing effect they have had on the church as well as the way we view church and want to be associated or disassociated with it.

In any event the food heritage of this greatest of Christian holidays is much overlooked and forgotten as Christmastide takes over as the key holiday we celebrate and feast at. I mean Passover dinner will always be passover dinner. But Easter dinner has never been a meal which had a direct multi-international food connection in that each culture drew upon it's own traditions in finding a food with which to lift up the day. In the US this has centered around three main meats. Ham, Lamb, and Chicken or Duck, aka Poultry. It is a meal which celebrates the breaking of the chains of death by recognizing the breaking of winters grip on the world and celebrating the birth of a new spring season of foods.

Easter dinner is always a lighter meal than say Thanksgiving or Christmas with heavy laden dishes such as stuffing and candied sweet potatoes. It is a livelier meal and one generally celebrated after the traditional Church going time. Fresh green peas and ramps taking the places of root veggies and dried grains and roasting giving way to simmering and sautes. It is in essence a food metaphor for the change in the world both spiritual and physical. It is in short one of the great meals of the year.

So this year I contemplated how I would bring in the season.  What would I do to celebrate this day we remember renewal and rebirth. I thought long and hard about it and I decided to forego the big meal. I would instead prepare a simple brunch for me and mine. I decided to base in on the heritage of my Mother's family from Norway. And I would make it simple and easy. Smoked Salmon would be placed open faced on dark Euro rye with horseradish chive cream cheese and red onion and fresh dill leaves. Sardines would be served in the tin with fine cold french butter and toast points. Potatoes would be cut and baked with butter and jarlsberg to make hasselback potatoes. Cucumbers given a quick pickle in white vinegar and dill. And for the main dish Baked Eggs in Brioche with ramps and cream and gruyere cheese. A simple yet  complex meal bridging the flavors of the continent yet based in the idea that simple can be delicious. And it could all be made before church and the potatoes and eggs baked off while we sat contemplating the service and drinking mimosas!

While the other items definitely were Norwegian in origin the baked eggs needed a little something special so I decided to ramp them up ( no pun intended) with the spring onions and the swiss cheese. Everything came out well and I would recommend this as a go to egg dish from now on for company. It's impressive, very tasty, and its so easy it's crazy. Give it a try and Happy belated Easter everyone, here's to renewal and rebirth!! Enjoy Ya'll!!

Baked Eggs with Spring Onions and Gruyere in Brioche 
( This is so easy and so delicious!!!)
(Can be made ahead till the baking up to 1 hour before baking  and held in the fridge)

Ingredients:

6 small Brioche rolls or Brioche unsliced hamburger buns or dinner rolls or your choice with the  very tippy tops cut off and insides carefully removed ( use a small paring knife and your fingers)
6 eggs
1/4 cup cream
6 spring onions or two leeks whites only sliced and sauted with butter till soft
1 1/2 cup shredded Gruyere divided into two 3/4 cups portions
1 teaspoon dried Thyme
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Place Rolls on greased baking sheet
Divide Onion or Leeks up between rolls
Divide one portion of the cheese and top the onions in each roll
Break an egg into each roll
sprinkle with a little thyme and S&P
Fill remaining cavities with the cream
Top with the remaining cheese and remaining thyme

Bake for 15 mins at 350 degrees till eggs are a little set and cheese is melty

Serve! Enjoy!

Grown Up Gourmet SOS ( S#*T on a Shingle)

There's Brunch..... and then there's BRUNCH!!!!!

Sunday's are probably my favorite day of the week. Sorry Katie Perry, it's not Friday night, nope Sunday!
Growing up it was one more day off from school after Saturday where there was sure to be some activity or chore that needed to be done. But not on Sunday!  It meant going to Sunday School and Church, and then Sunday Dinner after church!!! Now I used to love the music at church, the songs we would sing and the lessons learned, but.... what I really loved was the coffee hour after church and then our family's Sunday Supper, which in the south could almost be called Brunch but was really so much more. No my love of brunch developed later in life. It represented all those prior food experiences but came much more quickly after or ( sorry Lord) instead of Church time. And it usually involved some form of drinking, which can qualify as brunch for some by itself, but I always think food should be included.

Now my Family's Church in Charleston was the Episcopal Church. But back in the late 80's my father decided to switch us to the Huguenot Church, which was essentially Episcopal but had a more general theological standpoint. They were a downtown church and had a much higher degree of, shall we call it,  "social impact" through it's membership than many of the churches in town. But because the congregation was so spread geographically across the city,  they would have a coffee hour every week after church in the lovely garden of the church house, across the street from the Church proper. This would include all sort of delicious tidbits all prepared by the ladies of the church. And along with the tidbits and coffee, they would serve wine, and sometimes sherry! It was a time for the members to have a little fellowship with one another.

Now there were a lot of delicacies that were offered at these gatherings and I guess that this gathering sort of set the stage for me later in life making Brunch out to be my own version of this after church coffee hour. A time when you gathered with friends to discuss and socialize over food in a particular way.

Brunch of course is a bridge meal between Breakfast and Lunch. In NYC it is or has become a very busy time in the restaurant world as people bridge the gap between their Saturday night ( whoo hoo ) and their Sunday morning ( Oy Veh)! And I am one of those who also love brunch because it is a celebration of my favorite kinds of foods, creamy, cheesy, eggy, meaty!!

Now I host brunch, I don't just attend. In fact my own birthday party this year was a brunch at my house where I cooked for a number of friends in celebration of the fact that yes Virginia... I was even older! And as we know I love to take things  a little over the edge to the next level. So this meal was no exception. It was a celebration of some of my childhoods favorite brunch/lunch foods. I did serve two dishes that I have had in the wings for awhile and they were very well received.  So for those who were not able to attend the brunch this year I offer up this recipe for your enjoyment! Yum!

Gourmet SOS ( S#*T on a shingle) with Brunch Eggs!  (Serves 6)

For the Brunch Eggs

6 Eggs
3 Tblsp White Vinegar
Pinch of Salt

Bring a small pot of water to a rolling boil add the salt
Reduce to simmer add the vinegar
Crack the eggs one by one into a small bowl
With a spoon stir the water till a small whirlpool is formed
Gently slide the egg into the water a stop stirring
Let cook 3 to 4 mins till soft poached
Remove and place in a cold water bath in a shallow baking dish which has a few ice cube floating in it.
Reserve for later use in he fridge

For the SOS

First thing you need is garlic toast (Method follows)
 ( 18 pieces)

For the Sauce:

1 tablespoon oil
6 tablespoons flour
1 stick of butter cut up
1 shallot finely diced
1 garlic glove minced
3 cups  of warmed whole Milk
salt and coarse ground black pepper
3 tablespoons Sherry Vinegar
1 pound of mushrooms sliced

You will also need 6 left over boneless beef short Ribs that have been braised cooled and cut into 1 inch cubed pieces

Spice mix
2 Tbs Smoked paprika
2 Tbs chili powder
1 Tbs onion powder
1 Tbs garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

mix all of these together

1 bunch chives chopped finely

Method

In a stock pot
heat oil and add shallots and cook till soft add garlic and let bloom till fragrant and soft
Add butter pieces let melt
stir in flour till forms a roux let the flour cook a few mins till golden then with a whisk slowly add the warm milk stirring till mixed and sauce thickens
Add salt to taste and pepper
stir in Vinegar.
Keep Warm

In a frying pan saute mushrooms till golden and soft with a little butter season with S n P
Add to Sauce

In a frying pan heat 2 tbs of cooking oil with 6 tbs of butter

place short rib pieces in a bowl and sprinkle with the spice mix
toss to coat gently not breaking up the meat

Lay the meat pieces into the hot pan and let the meat sear on all sides  turning till brown and beautiful and the spices have blackened and the meat has soaked up the butter.
Hold warm

Toast bread in oven on one side then butter bread liberally and sprinkle with garlic powder  hold warm

To Assemble SOS

Bring pot of water to boil turn heat to low and let sit till just warm

For each serving:

Take two pieces of buttered toast cut into triangles
Lay overlapping pieces of garlic toast forming a shingle
Ladle gravy across smothering the center of entire shingle
Top each toast with 4 to 5 pieces of the Ribs
Take one egg and slowly place into water warming the egg but not cooking it more ( about 1 min)
Place on top of the SOS
Garnish liberally with chives

Enjoy!