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
Cover the beef bones with water.
Simmer for 2-3 hours to make gravy.
Add enough water to make 1 quart.
Cook the pot pie
Combine with salt, pepper, catsup, and meat in a four-quart saucepan.
Bring the mixture to a boil.
Stir in flour mixed with a little cold water.
Prepare soda-biscuit dough.
Let the dough rise until ready.
Add the crust on top, either whole or in pieces.
Cover the saucepan.
Boil for 20 minutes.
Serve
Place the whole crust upside down on a platter.
Add meat.
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.
-
Flour + biscuittop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together889 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Pepper + biscuittop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together841 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
-
Beef + biscuittop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together197 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
-
Pepper + flourtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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, which is already cooked and simply heated through in the gravy.
- Flour
- Thickens the gravy as its starch swells when heated with liquid.
- Soda-biscuit dough
- Forms the crust, which cooks through as it steams on top of the simmering mixture.
- Lard, butter, or drippings
- Adds fat to the dough, tenderising it and giving it a richer flavour.
The step that matters
Stirring in the flour mixture. Flour added to hot liquid can clump if not first mixed smooth with cold water. Thoroughly blending it before adding keeps the gravy smooth and evenly thickened as it heats.
“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.
More pot pie recipes
You might also like
Roast Beef211 recipes
Beef Loaf175 recipes
Corned Beef87 recipes
Beef Broth67 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.