Why it works: Pepper and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 85,593 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Breakfast Steak
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare and cook
Season the steak with coarse sea salt and black pepper.
Heat butter or oil in a skillet over medium‑high heat.
Cook the steak for about 4‑5 minutes on each side for medium‑rare.
Rest and serve
Let it rest for a few minutes before serving.
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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Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sirloin steak
- Provides the main protein, which firms and browns as it cooks.
- Butter or oil
- Conducts heat to the steak surface and helps browning in the skillet.
The step that matters
Cooking the steak for medium-rare. Thickness and heat vary, so timing alone can overcook it. Meat continues to heat after leaving the pan, and overcooking toughens the protein and dries the meat.
“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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