Name: Baked Polenta with Milk
Ingredients: 1 qt milk/1 l milk,; corn meal as needed to make a rather soft polenta; 5 oz/150 g grated parmesan,; 5 oz/150 g cubed Swiss cheese,; 6 eggs,; salt,; 1 cup sour cream,; a little butter; a little more grated parmesan

Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Baked Polenta with Milk

Ingredients

Directions

Make the polenta

Make a rather soft polenta from the milk and corn meal.
Set aside from heat and mix in the grated parmesan, Swiss cheese, and eggs.
Sprinkle some salt.

Bake and serve

Butter a heat‑resistant glass dish and place the polenta inside.
Pour the sour cream and sprinkle some grated parmesan on top.
Place in the oven to brown it slightly.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

724Calories

52 gProtein

42 gFat

38 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 8 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Parmesan Cheese	1 oz (28g)	110
Swiss Cheese	1 oz (28g)	108
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Corn	1/2 cup kernels (82g)	77
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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.

Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,516 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Swiss cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together413 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Milk + corntop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,955 recipes

Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
Milk + swiss cheesetop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together213 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs: Bind the cheese and polenta together and help the dish set when baked.
Parmesan: Adds savory, salty flavor and helps the top brown.
Swiss cheese: Adds melting richness and a creamy, stretchy texture to the polenta.
Sour cream: Adds moisture and tang, keeping the baked dish creamy.
Milk: Cooks with the corn meal to form the soft polenta base.
Corn meal: Forms the starchy base that gives the dish its body.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.