Name: Smothered Roast Beef II
Ingredients: 3 lbs/1,5 kg lean meat,; 1 onion,; 2-3 garlic cloves,; 1 medium carrot,; 1 cup wine,; 2 tablespoons lard,; salt, pepper,; 1 teaspoon paprika

Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓

Smothered Roast Beef II

Ingredients

Directions

Braise the meat

Brown the meat a little on all sides, using hot lard.
Add a halved carrot, an onion, salt, garlic, pepper, wine and warm water to cover the meat.
Cover the pot.
Let boil until the meat is tender and there are only 2-3 tablespoons of liquid left.

Make the sauce

Remove the carrot, onion and garlic. Sieve them and add them back to the pot.
Add one tablespoon of tomato paste and 2-3 tablespoons of water.
Let come to another boil.
Turn the meat on all sides.

Serve

Slice the meat and pour the sauce on top.
Serve with potatoes, boiled rice or boiled vegetables.
Pour some melted butter on top of the side dish.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

219Calories

2 gProtein

13 gFat

19 gCarbs

Counts 7 of 8 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 7 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Lard	1 tbsp (12.8g)	115
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Meat	not in our table	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.

Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together17,451 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Clove + carrottop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,873 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Carrot + peppertop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,555 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together21,601 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

What each ingredient does

Lean meat: Forms the main body of the dish, becoming tender as it cooks slowly in liquid.
Onion: Softens and sweetens as it cooks, adding body to the sauce once sieved.
Carrot: Adds natural sweetness and body to the sauce once sieved.
Wine: Adds acidity and aromatic depth to the braising liquid.
Lard: Carries heat for browning the meat, building flavour on the surface.
Tomato paste (in the method): Adds concentrated flavour, colour and body to the sauce.

The step that matters

Let boil until the meat is tender and only 2-3 tablespoons of liquid remain. Long, gentle cooking breaks down the meat's connective tissue so it becomes tender. Reducing the liquid concentrates flavour, so stopping too early leaves the meat tough and the sauce thin.

Swap the clove

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

Thymefits better
Parsleyfits better
Cuminfits better
Clovethe original

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

“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.

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Smothered Roast Beef II