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Stewed Brisket of Beef

A slow‑cooked beef brisket simmered in broth with cloves, salt, pepper, and optional tomato or mushroom ketchup.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Des Moines. Plymouth church. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,451 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓

Stewed Brisket of Beef

Ingredients

Directions

Simmer the brisket

  1. Put three or four pounds of brisket into a kettle and cover it with water.

  2. Remove the scum as it rises.

  3. Let it boil steadily for two hours.

Brown and stew

  1. Take it from the kettle and brown it with butter in a spider.

  2. When it is browned on every side, return it to the kettle.

  3. Stew it gently for five more hours.

  4. Add more water if it boils away.

  5. Pat in a few cloves, salt and pepper, as you think necessary.

Finish

  1. Half an hour before dinner add tomato or mushroom catsup.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

13Calories
0 gProtein
0 gFat
3 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
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 Des Moines. Plymouth church. [from old catalog]. 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 + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

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

What each ingredient does

Brisket
Long, gentle cooking breaks down its connective tissue, making the meat tender and rich.
Butter (in the method)
Browning the meat in butter adds richness and a golden, savoury crust.
Tomato or mushroom catsup (in the method)
Adds tangy, savoury depth to the cooking liquid near the end.
Cloves
Contributes a warm, aromatic spice to the stewing liquid.

The step that matters

Stew it gently for five more hours.. Low, steady heat slowly turns the brisket's connective tissue into gelatin, keeping it tender and moist. Hard boiling tightens the muscle fibres and dries the meat out.

“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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