Name: Red Wine–Braised Beef with Apple Gremolata Recipe
Cook time: 3 h 50 min
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Ingredients: 1 (4-pound) boneless chuck roast; Kosher salt; Freshly ground black pepper; 1/4 cup olive oil; 3 medium carrots; 3 medium celery stalks; 2 medium yellow onions; 2 cups dry red wine; 1 medium garlic head; 2 cups low-sodium beef broth or stock; 1/4 cup red wine vinegar; 4 thyme sprigs; 2 bay leaves; 2 (3-inch) rosemary sprigs; 2 medium tart apples , such as Granny Smith; 1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves; 3 tablespoons olive oil; Finely grated zest of 1 medium lemon; Kosher salt; Freshly ground black pepper

Why it works: Carrot and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,173 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

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.

Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together10,173 recipes

Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,665 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Pepper + celerytop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together16,012 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Pepper + carrottop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,555 recipes

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

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

Swap the celery

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, olive, carrot, onion, red wine, garlic, beef):

Thymefits better
Rosemaryfits better
Parsleyfits better
Celerythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, olive, carrot, onion, red wine, garlic, beef. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Beef	100g cooked	250
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Apple	1 medium (182g)	95
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Celery Stalks	1 stalk (40g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Rosemary	1 tsp dried (1.2g)	4
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Bay Leaf	1 leaf (0.6g)	2
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Red Wine–Braised Beef with Apple Gremolata Recipe