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Mustard-Peppercorn Steak and Arugula Salad

Here, thinly sliced steak enhanced with mustard seeds and peppercorns is served on a bed of arugula. The sauce is made from the pan juices enriched by a little balsamic vinegar. Round out the meal with country-style bread.

By williamssonoma · From Open Recipes · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Mustard and arugula work together. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 158 recipes mention both. Both carry trans-2-hexenal, which smells green, leafy. The science ↓

The recipe

Serves 4.

Ingredients

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

By williamssonoma. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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.

  1. Mustard + arugulatop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together158 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  2. Rosemary + olivetop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together2,489 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  3. Mustard + shallottop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together842 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Mustard + vinegartop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Mustard + oniontop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together9,243 recipes

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

Mustard and vinegar share little aroma chemistry, yet 14,067 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

Flavor stand-ins for the rosemary

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mustard, olive, vinegar, shallot, sugar, arugula, onion):

  1. Garlicbetter flavor fit
  2. Capersbetter flavor fit
  3. Tarragonbetter flavor fit
  4. Rosemarythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mustard, olive, vinegar, shallot, sugar, arugula, onion. 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).