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Bison Tenderloin with Cherry-Onion Chutney

"A roasted bison tenderloin is served topped with a fruity cherry and onion chutney with the tang of balsamic vinegar in this elegant main dish."

By allrecipes · From Open Recipes · 15 ingredients
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Why it works: Bison and onion work together. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and 44 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-nonanone, which smells fruity, floral. The science ↓

The recipe

12 servings
Prep45 min
Cook1 hr 10 min

Ingredients

  • Cherry-Onion Chutney

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Heat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Pat the bison tenderloin dry, then rub it all over with 1 tablespoon olive oil, the kosher salt, dried thyme and coarsely ground black pepper.

  2. Heat an ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Sear the roast on all sides until deeply browned, about 8 minutes total.

  3. Transfer the skillet to the oven and roast until the thickest part of the tenderloin reaches 145°F (63°C), about 20 to 25 minutes. Let it rest for 3 minutes before slicing.

  4. For the chutney, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook, stirring, for about 6 minutes until soft.

  5. Stir in the brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, a dash of cayenne, the frozen cherries and the chopped pear. Simmer over medium-low heat for about 20 minutes, stirring often, until thickened.

  6. Season the chutney with salt and black pepper to taste. Slice the rested tenderloin and serve with the warm cherry-onion chutney.

By allrecipes. 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. Bison + oniontop 8% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together44 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  2. Thyme + peppertop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together11,585 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Olive + thymetop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together4,641 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple, fatty).

  4. Sugar + cinnamontop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together30,777 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Thyme + cinnamontop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together369 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

Sugar and cinnamon share little aroma chemistry, yet 30,777 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 cinnamon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, bison, thyme, pepper, onion, sugar, vinegar):

  1. Garlicbetter flavor fit
  2. Basilbetter flavor fit
  3. Rosemarybetter flavor fit
  4. Cinnamonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, bison, thyme, pepper, onion, sugar, vinegar. 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).