Why it works: Parsley and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Plank Steak
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the butter
Wash and dry the butter.
Mix the butter with green pepper, parsley, onion, and lemon juice.
Set up the plank
Spread one-third of the butter mixture in the center of a wooden plank.
Arrange a border of duchess potatoes around the edge of the plank.
Cook and serve
Pan-broil the porterhouse steak for 4 minutes.
Remove the steak to the plank.
Spread the remaining butter mixture over the steak.
Bake to finish cooking.
Garnish with sautéed mushrooms and additional garnishes as desired.
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.
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Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,037 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Parsley + potatotop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,855 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture, and carries the herbs and lemon juice over the steak.
- Porterhouse steak
- Is the main protein, cooked by pan-broiling and then finished in the oven.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the rich butter and beef flavor.
- Green pepper
- Contributes fresh, slightly bitter vegetable flavor to the butter mixture.
- Onion
- Adds savory aroma and pungency to the butter mixture.
The step that matters
Pan-broil the steak before moving it to the plank. Searing the steak on a hot pan first browns its surface and builds flavor, while the short time keeps the interior from overcooking before the final bake finishes it.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, pepper, parsley, lemon, potato, mushroom, tomato):
- Capsicumfits better
- Carrotfits better
- Spinachfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, pepper, parsley, lemon, potato, mushroom, tomato. 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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