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To Broil Beef-Steaks

Broiled beef steaks with butter, pepper, sea salt, and shallot water sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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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 ↓

To Broil Beef-Steaks

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Preheat your grill and rub it with beef suet.

Broil and serve

  1. Place the steaks on the grill and broil until they begin to brown.

  2. Turn the steaks and brown the other side.

  3. Transfer the steaks to a hot dish, placing a slice of butter between each steak.

  4. Sprinkle with pepper and coarse sea salt, and let them rest for 2-3 minutes.

  5. Thinly slice the shallot and mix it with a spoonful of water.

  6. Return the steaks to the grill, adding the shallot mixture, and keep turning until cooked to your liking.

  7. Serve the steaks with the shallot and water mixture poured over them.

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. Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,971 recipes

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

  2. Pepper + shallottop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,898 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Beef + shallottop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,103 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  4. Beef + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,847 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).

  5. Butter + shallottop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,426 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef steaks
Browned on the outside by the grill while the inside cooks to the desired doneness.
Beef suet
Rubbed on the hot grill to give a fat layer that keeps the steaks from sticking.
Butter
Placed between the hot steaks so it melts and adds richness and moisture.
Shallot
Mixed with water and poured over the steaks, adding a mild sharp onion flavour.

The step that matters

Turning the steaks while they cook on the grill. Turning the steaks repeatedly exposes each side to direct heat so they brown evenly without burning. Leaving one side too long can scorch it while the centre stays underdone.

Swap the shallot

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, butter, pepper):

  1. Potatofits better
  2. Onionfits better
  3. Capsicumfits better
  4. Shallotthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, butter, pepper. 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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