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Alamode Beef

A beef stew with salt pork, butter, onions, crackers, eggs, spices, and wine.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Keokuk (Iowa). Westminster Presbyterian church · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,686 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Alamode Beef

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the stuffing

  1. Take a piece of salt pork about four inches square and a piece of beef the same size; chop them finely with two onions.

  2. Add salt, pepper, sweet marjoram, cloves, about an even tablespoonful, a nutmeg, and four crackers well pounded. Mix this with two eggs.

  3. Cut holes in your beef and stuff it nearly all in.

Brown and stew

  1. Put a piece of butter in the kettle you intend to cook it in, and let it melt.

  2. Brown the beef on both sides in the butter.

  3. Cover it with water.

  4. If you have any stuffing left, put it in the kettle, and let the whole stew gently cook for four hours.

  5. Add water occasionally if it stews away too much.

Finish the gravy

  1. When done, the gravy will be an excellent brown.

  2. Then add a half pint of wine, or more.

  3. If the gravy is not thick enough, add flour.

  4. Exercise your judgment while it is cooking, and if not rich enough, add more ingredients.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

971Calories
48 gProtein
33 gFat
110 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 10 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Pork100g cooked242
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Wine2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)25
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 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.

By Keokuk (Iowa). Westminster Presbyterian church. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

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. Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,686 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  3. Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

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

  4. Pork + oniontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,214 recipes

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

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

Beef (in the method)
Forms the main body of the stew and becomes tender during the long, gentle cooking.
Eggs
Bind the chopped stuffing together so it holds its shape inside the beef.
Crackers
Absorb moisture and help the stuffing hold together as a binder.
Wine
Adds acidity and depth of flavour to the gravy.
Flour (in the method)
Thickens the gravy if it is not thick enough.

The step that matters

Browning the beef in butter. Searing the beef on both sides creates browned flavour through the Maillard reaction, which gives the gravy its rich colour and taste. Skipping or rushing this step leaves the stew pale and flat.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (wine, pork, butter, egg, pepper, clove, nutmeg):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Shallotfits better
  3. Potatofits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against wine, pork, butter, egg, pepper, clove, nutmeg. 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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