Name: Mushrooms a LA King
Ingredients: 3 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced; 3 tbsp butter or margarine, melted; 3 tbsp all-purpose flour; 1 cup celery, sliced; 1/2 cup pimiento-stuff olives, sliced; 1/4 cup (1 oz) cheddar cheese, shredded; 2 hard cooked eggs, chopped; 1 cup milk; 1/2 cup water; 1 10oz. package frozen patty shells, baked

Why it works: Mushroom and olive are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,571 recipes. Both carry trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal, which smells fatty, green. 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.

Mushroom + olivetop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,571 recipes

Shared aroma: trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Mushroom + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,525 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
Butter + cheddar cheesetop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,436 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Mushroom + cheddar cheesetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together705 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Mushrooms: Provide the main body and savory flavor of the filling as they soften and release moisture.
Butter or margarine: Adds fat for sauteing the mushrooms and carries flavor into the filling.
All-purpose flour: Thickens the mixture with the liquid to form a smooth, creamy filling.
Milk: Forms the creamy base of the sauce that thickens during simmering.
Hard cooked eggs: Add richness and soft texture to the filling.
Cheddar cheese: Adds savory flavor and creaminess as it melts into the sauce.

The step that matters

Simmer uncovered until thickened. The flour and milk need time at a gentle simmer for starch to swell and thicken the sauce. Stopping early leaves a thin filling that runs out of the shells, while stirring keeps it from scorching on the bottom of the pan.

Swap the celery

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mushroom, butter, flour, olive, cheddar cheese, egg, milk):

Nutmegfits better
Thymefits better
Capersfits better
Celerythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mushroom, butter, flour, olive, cheddar cheese, egg, milk. 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Cheddar Cheese	1 oz (28g)	113
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Mushrooms	1/2 cup sliced (35g)	15
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Olive	1 large (4g)	4
Water	not in our table	0

Mushrooms a LA King