Why it works: Beef and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,971 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Cooked Meat for Mince Pies
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the beef
Wash the beef.
Place it in a kettle with enough water to cover it.
Remove the scum as it reaches boiling point.
Add hot water as needed until tender.
Season with salt and pepper.
Boil uncovered until almost dry, allowing the juices to return to the meat.
When it begins to fry in its own juice, remove from heat.
Cool
Let cool, preferably overnight.
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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Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lean beef
- Forms the bulk of the filling; slow simmering softens its fibres until tender and easy to mince.
The step that matters
Boil uncovered until almost dry. As water evaporates, the meat's juices concentrate and then return to the meat. Stop when the meat begins to fry in its own juice, or it will dry out and turn tough.
“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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