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 ↓
Beefsteak Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the steak
Beat the steaks lightly and season with pepper and salt.
Place bits of butter over the surface and dredge with flour.
Roll the steak and cut into 2-inch pieces.
Assemble the pie
Line a tin basin with pie paste and add the steak pieces.
Nearly fill the basin with water and add the small butter pieces, along with more pepper and salt.
Lay skewers across the basin.
Roll out a top crust to ½ inch thickness and cut a slit in the center.
Pinch the top and side crust together around the edge.
Bake
Bake for 1 hour at 400°F (200°C).
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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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Pepper + flourtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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
- Steaks
- Provide the meat that becomes tender and flavorful during the long baking time.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat that carries flavor and keeps the meat moist as it cooks.
- Flour
- Dredged over the meat to lightly thicken the juices in the pie.
- Pie paste
- Forms the crust that encloses the filling and holds in the juices while baking.
The step that matters
Pinch the top and side crust together around the edge. A tight seal keeps the juices inside the pie while it bakes, so the filling stays moist and the crust does not leak or dry out.
“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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