Why it works: Butter and blue cheese match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 226 recipes mention both. Both carry gamma-decalactone, which smells peach, creamy. The science ↓
The recipe
4 servingsIngredients
Contains: milk (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Whisk the red wine vinegar, minced garlic, 1 tablespoon cracked black pepper, crumbled rosemary, oregano, kosher salt and olive oil in a shallow dish. Add the flat iron steak, turn to coat, cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, mash the softened unsalted butter with the crumbled blue cheese, chopped chives and 1/8 teaspoon cracked black pepper until smooth. Spoon onto plastic wrap, roll into a log and refrigerate until firm.
Preheat a grill to high heat, about 450°F (232°C), and oil the grates lightly.
Remove the steak from the marinade and let excess drip off. Discard the leftover marinade.
Grill the steak for 4 to 5 minutes per side, until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part reads at least 145°F (63°C).
Transfer the steak to a cutting board and rest for 3 minutes. Slice thinly against the grain.
Top the sliced steak with rounds of the chilled blue cheese-chive butter and serve.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Butter + blue cheesetop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together226 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).
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Rosemary + oreganotop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together344 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Garlic + chivetop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,148 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Garlic + olivetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together23,449 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
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Rosemary + olivetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,489 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the garlic
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (red wine, vinegar, pepper, rosemary, oregano, olive, butter):
- Thymebetter flavor fit
- Basilbetter flavor fit
- Sagebetter flavor fit
- Garlicthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against red wine, vinegar, pepper, rosemary, oregano, olive, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
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