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Beef with Whisky and Mushroom Cream, Wilted Spinach and Crushed Tatties

By bbcfood · From Open Recipes · 18 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and whisky work together. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and 115 recipes mention both. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓

The recipe

Serves 4
Prep30 min
Cook30 min

Ingredients

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.

  1. Cook the new potatoes in a pan of boiling water for 15 to 20 minutes until tender. Drain, return to the pan, and crush roughly with 50g/2oz butter, the chopped flatleaf parsley, and salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste.

  2. Coarsely crush the black peppercorns. Spread the Dijon mustard over the halved fillet steaks, then press the crushed peppercorns and the sea salt and freshly ground pepper onto both sides.

  3. Heat the sunflower oil in a heavy frying pan over high heat. Sear the steaks 2 minutes per side, then reduce heat and cook 1 to 2 minutes more until the thickest part reaches 145°F (63°C). Rest 3 minutes before serving.

  4. While the steaks rest, melt the first 50g/2oz butter in a clean frying pan over medium-high heat. Slice the cep mushrooms, add them, and fry for 4 to 5 minutes until golden.

  5. Pour in the whisky and let it bubble for 1 minute. Add the beef stock and simmer for 3 minutes, then stir in the double cream and simmer 2 to 3 minutes until slightly thickened. Season with salt and white pepper.

  6. Melt the 25g/1oz butter in a large pan with the 3 tbsp water over medium heat. Add the baby spinach in handfuls and stir for 1 to 2 minutes until just wilted. Season with salt and white pepper and drain any excess liquid.

  7. Serve the steaks with the mushroom cream spooned over, the wilted spinach, and the crushed potatoes.

By bbcfood. 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. Pepper + whiskytop 15% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together115 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  2. Mushroom + beeftop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together3,231 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

  3. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together34,118 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Butter + mushroomtop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together12,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  5. Potato + parsleytop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together2,855 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

Flavor stand-ins for the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mustard, pepper, sunflower, butter, mushroom, potato, parsley):

  1. Thymebetter flavor fit
  2. Dillbetter flavor fit
  3. Celerybetter flavor fit
  4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mustard, pepper, sunflower, butter, mushroom, potato, parsley. 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).