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Smothered Steak

Smothered steak is a slow‑cooked steak baked with onions, pepper, and tomatoes.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,923 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Smothered Steak

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. Place the steak in a casserole or granite pan and season with salt.

  3. Add a thick layer of chopped onions and the pimento or sweet pepper on top.

  4. Pour the tomatoes over the mixture.

Bake

  1. Cover the pan tightly and bake for 1 hour or until the steak is tender.

  2. Uncover and brown for the last 30 minutes if desired.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

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. Pepper + tomatotop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

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

  2. Onion + tomatotop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,633 recipes

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

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

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

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

What each ingredient does

Flank or round steak
Provides the main meat, which becomes tender during long, covered baking.
Chopped onions
Form a thick layer that softens and adds sweetness to the sauce.
Pimento or sweet pepper
Adds mild sweetness and aroma to the topping.
Tomatoes
Add acidity and liquid that moistens the steak and builds the sauce.

The step that matters

Cover the pan tightly. A tight cover traps steam so the tough cut of steak braises in its own juices and tomatoes. Uncovered, the liquid evaporates and the meat can dry out before it becomes tender.

Swap the onion

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, tomato. 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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