Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Pheasants— Broiled
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Truss the pheasants.
Brush the pheasants with egg yolk.
Coat with breadcrumbs.
Broil
Broil until browned.
Alternatively, brush with melted butter and dust with flour before broiling.
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.
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Pheasant + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together225 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Pheasant + buttertop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together511 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Butter and flour 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
- Pheasants
- The main meat, which is cooked and browned under the broiler.
- Egg yolk
- Acts as a binder so the breadcrumbs stick to the surface.
- Breadcrumbs
- Form a crisp, golden coating during broiling.
- Melted butter
- Adds fat that promotes browning and richness on the surface.
- Flour
- Dries the surface slightly, helping it brown evenly.
The step that matters
Broil until browned. Breadcrumbs, butter and flour brown quickly under a broiler's intense direct heat and can scorch before the pheasant is cooked through. Watch closely and move the bird lower or turn it if the coating darkens too fast.
“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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