Why it works: Flour and biscuit match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 889 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Pot Pie
Ingredients
Directions
Make the gravy
Break the bones of the beef and cover them with water in a four-quart saucepan.
Simmer for 2-3 hours to make gravy, adding enough water to make 1 quart.
Make the stew
Add salt, pepper, catsup, and the meat to the saucepan and bring to a boil.
Mix flour with a little cold water until smooth, then add to the boiling stew.
Prepare the soda-biscuit dough as directed, ensuring it is ready when the stew is finished.
Add the crust and serve
When the stew is boiling, add the crust on top, either whole or in pieces.
Cover the saucepan tightly and boil for 20 minutes.
If using a whole crust, place it upside down on a platter, add the meat, and pour gravy over it.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Flour + biscuittop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together889 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pepper + biscuittop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together841 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
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Biscuit + breadtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together319 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
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Beef + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,032 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Roast beef
- Provides the main meat and savory flavor of the pot pie.
- Flour
- Thickens the stew liquid into a smooth gravy as it heats.
- Soda-biscuit dough
- Forms the crust that steams on top of the boiling stew.
- Lard, butter, or drippings
- Adds fat to the biscuit dough, tenderizing its texture and richness.
The step that matters
Covering the saucepan and boiling for 20 minutes with the crust on top. The lid traps steam so the crust cooks through and sets while the stew keeps boiling. Lifting the lid or letting the stew stop boiling can leave the dough heavy and underdone.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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