Why it works: Beef and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,971 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
How We Cook in Tennessee
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the pigeons
Carefully pluck half dozen pigeons; singe them, wipe with a wet towel, and cut off the heads and feet.
In drawing them, take care not to break the entrails; save the hearts, liver, and gizzards.
Brown and simmer
Put two tablespoons of butter in a saucepan, let it get smoking hot, then put in the pigeons and brown them.
When they are brown, dust over them a tablespoon of dry flour and move them about until the flour is brown.
Then cover them with boiling water.
Season with salt and pepper and simmer them gently until tender.
Add the peas and serve
Meanwhile, shell enough young peas to fill a pint measure; if the pods of peas are not clean, wash them before shelling, but do not wash the shelled peas.
When the pigeons are tender, put the peas with them, and continue to cook until the peas are just tender.
Serve the pigeons in a deep platter with the peas under them.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 7 of 8 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Beef | 100g cooked | 250 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Corn | 1/2 cup kernels (82g) | 77 |
| Chili | 1 tsp (2.7g) | 8 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Cayenne | 1 tsp (1.8g) | 6 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Dripping | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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.
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Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pepper + corntop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,324 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Beef + corntop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,028 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Butter + corntop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,345 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Butter + beeftop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,847 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pigeons
- Provide the main meat, which becomes tender through gentle simmering.
- Butter
- Browns the pigeons in hot fat, adding colour and savoury flavour.
- Dry flour (in the method)
- Browns in the pan and helps thicken the cooking liquid.
- Young peas (in the method)
- Add sweetness and a tender, fresh vegetable texture to the stew.
The step that matters
Browning the flour. Flour must be stirred until evenly browned, not burnt. Browning adds flavour and colour, while scorched flour turns bitter and can spoil the stew.
“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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