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Creole Tomatoes

A baked tomato casserole with onions, peppers, bacon drippings, flour, milk, and cream.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Tomato and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,923 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Creole Tomatoes

Oven425°F
Time15 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Bake the tomatoes

  1. Cut tomatoes in half crosswise and place cut side up on a baking sheet.

  2. Sprinkle tomatoes with onion, peppers, salt, and cayenne.

  3. Put 1 teaspoon bacon drippings over each tomato.

  4. Add ½ cup water to the pan and bake at 425°F for 15 minutes.

Make the sauce

  1. Heat remaining bacon drippings and brown flour in it.

  2. Add milk, cream, and liquid from the pan to the sauce.

  3. Stir until boiling and cook for 3 minutes longer.

Serve

  1. Dish tomatoes onto toast squares and pour sauce around them.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

778Calories
27 gProtein
19 gFat
125 gCarbs

Counts 9 of 10 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Bacon1 slice cooked (8g)43
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Drippingnot in our table0

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.

  1. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

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

  2. Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,633 recipes

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

  3. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

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

  4. Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together78,219 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Tomato + milktop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,226 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Tomatoes
Provide the main body and juice, which softens and forms the base of the casserole.
Bacon drippings
Carry fat for flavor and help the tomatoes brown lightly in the oven.
Flour
Browned in the drippings, it thickens the sauce so it clings to the tomatoes.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the cream sauce, adding body and mild richness.
Cream
Adds richness and a smoother texture to the sauce.
Green peppers
Add a fresh, slightly bitter vegetable flavor that cooks down into the tomatoes.

The step that matters

Browning the flour in the drippings. Flour must cook in the hot fat until it turns golden and smells nutty, which removes raw taste. Adding milk too early, or leaving the roux pale, makes the sauce lumpy or floury. Stirring constantly keeps it smooth.

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, pepper, flour, milk, cream):

  1. Potatofits better
  2. Leekfits better
  3. Spinachfits better
  4. Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, pepper, flour, milk, cream. 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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