Why it works: Flour and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 50,459 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Roast Beef
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the meat
Choose the tip of the sirloin as the best piece for roasting. Trim the backbone very close, cut the ribs close to the solid part of the meat, and remove them from the flank part.
Turn the flank end toward the backbone and secure it with a large needle and twine by two or three stitches through the tough skin.
Do not wash the meat; sponge it with a wet cloth, rub lightly with pepper and salt, and dredge it in flour enough to dry the surface.
Put plenty of the flour in the bottom of the pan if a brown gravy is wished.
Roast
Lay the meat on the rack with the serving side down first.
If the oven is hot enough, turn the meat in about an hour.
Watch carefully, basting every fifteen minutes, and as soon as it is well browned on all sides, pour in enough water to cover the bottom of the pan.
Let the water cook away toward the end so that the fat can be poured away.
After the meat is done, set it into a hot oven but do not cover while making gravy.
Make the gravy
Add one pint hot water to the sediment left in the pan after the fat has been poured off. Place on the stove and scrape all the glaze from the bottom and side of the pan.
When it boils, add a thickening made of two teaspoonfuls of flour rubbed smooth with four tablespoonfuls of cold water, pouring it in slowly.
Boil well, add salt and pepper to taste, and strain into a hot dish.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| 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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
-
Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sirloin (in the method)
- Its firm, well-marbled cut gives a juicy roast that holds its shape while cooking.
- Flour
- Dusting the surface helps dry it for browning, and flour thickens the gravy.
- Cold water
- Mixed with flour first so the thickener blends smoothly into the hot gravy without lumps.
The step that matters
Adding the flour thickener to the boiling gravy. Flour dropped in dry or poured in fast clumps into lumps. Rubbing it smooth with cold water and pouring slowly while the liquid boils lets starch granules disperse and thicken the gravy evenly.
“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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