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A Rolled, Stuffed Steak

A rolled steak stuffed with suet and salt pork, coated in bread crumbs and baked with water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
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Why it works: Bread and pork are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,371 recipes. Both carry 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, which smells popcorn, roasted. The science ↓

A Rolled, Stuffed Steak

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderately slow oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderately slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the steak

  1. Score the steak.

  2. Brush it with oil and vinegar.

  3. Cover the steak with well-seasoned bread crumbs.

  4. Roll the steak into a loaf shape.

Season and bake

  1. Dust the loaf with coarse sea salt, pepper, and flour.

  2. Place thin slices of suet and strips of fat salt pork on top.

  3. Put the loaf in a covered baking pan.

  4. Add 1 cup of hot water.

  5. Cook in a moderately slow oven at 300°F (150°C) until tender.

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. Bread + porktop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,371 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

  2. Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,814 recipes

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

  3. Pepper + porktop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,121 recipes

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

  4. Bread + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,964 recipes

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

  5. Vinegar + porktop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,563 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

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

What each ingredient does

Steak
Forms the main body of the dish and becomes tender with slow, moist cooking.
Suet
Melts during baking, adding fat that keeps the lean steak moist and rich.
Fat salt pork
Renders fat over the loaf, adding richness and savory flavor as it bakes.
Bread crumbs
Wrap the steak and absorb rendered juices, helping hold the roll together.
Flour
Dusted on the loaf, it helps the outside brown and thicken the pan juices.

The step that matters

Cook in a covered pan at low heat until tender. Lean round steak toughens if cooked fast or dry. A moderately slow oven with the lid on and added water lets connective tissue break down gently while the meat stays moist.

“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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