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Batter Celery

A savory batter of celery, onion, eggs, milk, and wheatmeal baked in a pie dish.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By T. R. Allinson · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Celery and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,012 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Batter Celery

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut the celery into small pieces and finely chop the onion.

Stew the vegetables

  1. Stew the celery and onion gently in half the milk, butter, pepper, and salt.

Make the batter and combine

  1. Make a batter with the remaining milk, eggs, and wheatmeal.

  2. When the celery and onion are tender, mix the batter with them.

Bake and serve

  1. Grease a pie dish, pour the mixture into it, and bake for 1½ hours.

  2. Serve with potatoes and tomato sauce.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

283Calories
16 gProtein
14 gFat
25 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
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 T. R. Allinson. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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. Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

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

  2. Celery + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,518 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  3. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Milk + oniontop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together13,418 recipes

    Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).

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

What each ingredient does

Celery
Forms the bulk of the dish and gives it its main texture and flavour.
Eggs
Bind the batter and help it set as it bakes.
Milk
Adds moisture and softness to the batter as it cooks.
Onion
Adds aroma and savoury sweetness as it softens in the stew.

The step that matters

Stew the celery and onion until fully tender before mixing. Vegetables that are still firm stay tough once baked into the batter. Gentle heat softens them evenly and keeps the milk from scorching.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, celery, egg, pepper):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Carrotfits better
  3. Potatofits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, celery, egg, pepper. 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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