Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Salad Dressings
Ingredients
Directions
Cream salad dressing
Mix the yolks of 2 beaten eggs, pepper and salt, 1 tablespoon of vinegar, 1 tablespoon of butter, 1 teaspoon of mustard and 2 teaspoons of sugar in a bowl.
Set the bowl in a pan of boiling water. Stir until it thickens, and beat well after it comes off the fire.
Just before using, stir in ¼ cup of whipped cream.
Hot cream and salad dressings
Bring 1 pint of milk to a boil.
Cream together 1 tablespoon of butter and 2 tablespoons of flour.
When the milk is hot, pour it slowly over the butter and flour, and beat well.
Let it thicken to the consistency desired, judging how much cooking each dish requires.
Put 7 tablespoons of water and 7 tablespoons of vinegar on to boil.
Pour the boiling liquid over 2 well-beaten eggs.
Add 1 teaspoon of sugar, 1 tablespoon of butter, pepper and salt to taste.
Return to the fire and cook until thick.
Slaw and mayonnaise dressings
Mix ½ pint of milk, ½ pint of vinegar, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 3 beaten eggs, 2 tablespoons of butter, 1 teaspoon of mustard, pepper and salt altogether. Cook until thick as custard.
Beat 1 cup of sugar and 2 eggs (whites and yolks). Boil 1 cup of vinegar. While hot, pour the vinegar over the egg mixture, adding 1 tablespoon of mustard. Thicken and set away to cool.
Work together the yolks of 6 eggs and ⅔ teacup of mustard. Add 1¾ teacups of olive oil slowly, mixing well. Stir in enough salt to thicken it. Add 6 tablespoons of vinegar. Just before using, add 2 tablespoons of cream.
French, tartare and cooked dressings
Put 1 saltspoon of salt, ¼ saltspoon of pepper and 1 tablespoon of vinegar in a bowl. Mix in 3 to 5 tablespoons of olive oil slowly, stirring constantly the same way until the dressing becomes ropy.
Add a little onion juice, if that flavor is not objectionable.
Add chopped olives, gherkins, capers, parsley and onion to a rich mayonnaise. Mix and set on ice until ready to use.
Beat the yolks of 3 eggs until light. Add 2 teaspoons of salt, 1 teaspoon of paprika or ¼ saltspoon cayenne, to 1/2 cup of vinegar and bring to a boil. Scald 1 cup of milk and pour it over the beaten yolks. Add the vinegar and cook all until thick. Add 2 tablespoons of oil or melted butter and the well-beaten whites of the eggs, and whip the mixture until creamy.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 12 of 13 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 12 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Olive Oil | 1 tbsp (14g) | 119 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Vinegar | 1 tbsp (15ml) distilled | 3 |
| Mustard | 1 tsp (5g) yellow | 3 |
| Parsley | 1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g) | 1 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Water | 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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Milk + teatop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together738 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
-
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Yolks and whites thicken the dressing as they cook and set.
- Butter
- Adds richness and smoothness to the cooked dressings.
- Flour
- Thickens the milk mixture into a smooth sauce.
- Vinegar
- Adds sharpness that balances the richness of eggs and fat.
- Olive oil
- Emulsifies with the yolks to form a thick, creamy dressing.
- Milk
- Adds body and mild sweetness to the cooked dressings.
The step that matters
Stir in the vinegar and cook the egg mixture until thick. Egg proteins thicken as they heat, but overheating or heating too fast can curdle them. Stir constantly and cook gently so the dressing sets smooth.
“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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