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Tenderloin of Beef

Tenderloin of Beef is a roasted beef tenderloin served with a gravy of vegetables, tomatoes, and meatballs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Gibson, Marietta Fauntleroy Hollyday, "Mrs. C. H. Gibson." · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Allspice and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,874 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Tenderloin of Beef

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the tenderloin

  1. Extract the tenderloin before cutting the hind quarter of the animal.

  2. Wash the tenderloin well.

  3. Put the tenderloin in an oven and add about a pint of water.

Make the vegetables and gravy

  1. Chop a good handful of Irish potatoes, carrots, turnips, and a large bunch of celery.

  2. Wash, peel, and chop the vegetables raw, then add them to the meat.

  3. Let the mixture slowly simmer.

  4. When nearly done, add one teaspoonful of pounded allspice.

  5. Add one tablespoonful of butter to enrich the gravy.

  6. If the gravy looks too greasy, skim off some of the melted suet.

Make the meatballs

  1. Boil a lean piece of beef; when done, chop it finely.

  2. Flavor the chopped beef with a small quantity of onion, pepper, and salt to taste.

  3. Form the beef into small balls, wet the outside with egg, and roll them in grated cracker or fine bread crumbs.

  4. Fry the meatballs until lightly browned.

Serve

  1. When serving, arrange the meatballs around the tenderloin and pour the rich gravy over everything.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

436Calories
29 gProtein
27 gFat
19 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 10 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
Allspice1 tsp ground (1.9g)5
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0
Meatnot 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.

By Gibson, Marietta Fauntleroy Hollyday, "Mrs. C. H. Gibson.". 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. Allspice + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Celery + tomatotop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,377 recipes

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

  3. Allspice + celerytop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,422 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Celery + clovetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,668 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).

  5. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 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 tenderloin
Forms the main body of the dish, cooked slowly in water until tender.
Butter
Adds richness and fat to the gravy, giving it a smoother mouthfeel.
Tomatoes
Add acidity and moisture, helping to build the body of the stewed mixture.
Catsup
Adds sweetness and acidity to the stewed mixture.
Celery
Contributes aroma and flavor to the simmered gravy.

The step that matters

Skim the gravy if it looks greasy. Melted suet rises to the surface as the meat simmers, and leaving too much fat makes the gravy heavy and greasy. Skimming keeps the sauce balanced in texture.

Swap the allspice

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, celery, butter, tomato, onion, meat, clove):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Garlicfits better
  3. Parsleyfits better
  4. Allspicethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, celery, butter, tomato, onion, meat, clove. 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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