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Sheep's Kidneys, Broiled

Broiled sheep kidneys served with butter, parsley, lemon juice, and optional Champagne sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Pierre Blot · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Sheep's Kidneys, Broiled

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the kidneys

  1. Split the kidneys in two.

  2. Put them in cold water for five minutes.

  3. Trim off the pellicle or thin skin.

  4. Run a skewer through each kidney.

  5. Sprinkle salt and pepper on the kidneys.

Broil and serve

  1. Place the kidneys on the gridiron.

  2. Set the gridiron on a good fire.

  3. Turn the kidneys over.

  4. When broiled, serve the kidneys with a piece of butter and chopped parsley kneaded together, placed on each kidney.

  5. Add a few drops of lemon juice.

  6. Serve the kidneys on a maitre d'hotel sauce when broiled.

  7. For brochette, place the kidneys on the spit instead of the gridiron and serve them in the same way.

Make the stewed kidneys

  1. Cut the kidneys into slices, each into ten or twelve pieces.

  2. Put a piece of butter the size of two walnuts in a stewpan and set it on the fire.

  3. When the butter has melted, add a teaspoonful of chopped parsley, the same amount of mushrooms, a pinch of grated nutmeg, salt, pepper, and the kidneys.

  4. Keep tossing the mixture until the kidneys become stiff.

  5. Sprinkle a saltspoonful of flour over the kidneys, stirring with a wooden spoon while continuing to toss.

  6. Add a wine-glass of Champagne, or of good white wine.

  7. Subdue the fire and let the mixture simmer until cooked.

  8. Take the pan from the fire, add about one ounce of fresh butter and the juice of half a lemon, and serve.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

602Calories
14 gProtein
16 gFat
98 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Walnut1 walnut half (4g)26
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
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 Pierre Blot. 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. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

  2. Parsley + nutmegtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,062 recipes

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

  3. Walnut + nutmegtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,230 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Walnut + parsleytop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together865 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Nutmeg + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Kidneys (in the method)
Main ingredient; cooked quickly so the flesh stays tender rather than tough.
Butter
Adds richness and carries flavour, and melts to coat the kidneys as they cook.
Flour
Lightly coats the kidney pieces and thickens the cooking liquid into a sauce.
White wine (in the method)
Adds acidity and aroma and loosens the pan juices into a light sauce.

The step that matters

Keep the kidneys on the heat only until just cooked. Kidney turns firm and rubbery when overcooked. Simmering gently after the flour and wine keeps the pieces tender and the sauce smooth.

Swap the walnut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, parsley, nutmeg, flour, pepper):

  1. Chestnutfits about as well
  2. Chickpeafits about as well
  3. Almondfits about as well
  4. Walnutthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, parsley, nutmeg, flour, 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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