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Bean Loaf

Bean loaf is a baked loaf made from mashed potatoes, cooked beans, onion, cream sauce, flour, and optional bacon.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Potato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Bean Loaf

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the base

  1. Melt the drippings in a pan.

  2. Add flour and stir until well blended.

  3. Mash the beans and potatoes through a potato ricer.

Shape and bake

  1. Combine all ingredients and shape into a loaf.

  2. Place a strip or two of bacon on top.

  3. Bake at 350°F (175°C) until well blended.

  4. Serve with or without tomato sauce, onions, cauliflower, or cabbage.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

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.

  1. Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Potato + beanstop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together655 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  3. Onion + beanstop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,242 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Cream + saucetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,787 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Mashed potatoes
Adds body and softness, helping the loaf hold together while staying moist.
Cooked beans or peas
Form the bulk of the loaf and provide its main texture and protein.
Thick cream sauce
Adds moisture and richness so the loaf does not dry out during baking.
Flour
Thickens the drippings into a binder that helps the loaf set and hold its shape.

The step that matters

Mash the beans and potatoes through a potato ricer. Pushing the cooked beans and potatoes through a ricer gives a fine, even texture. Coarse lumps can leave the loaf crumbly and uneven when it sets.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, beans, cream, sauce, pepper, flour):

  1. Spinachfits better
  2. Chivefits better
  3. Okrafits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, beans, cream, sauce, pepper, flour. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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