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Deviled Kidneys

Deviled kidneys are sliced kidneys marinated in oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, mustard, then broiled and seasoned with cayenne.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Vinegar and mustard are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,067 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Deviled Kidneys

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. In a bowl, mix the oil, vinegar, coarse sea salt, pepper, and mustard.

  2. Dip the sliced kidneys in the mixture.

Cook and serve

  1. Broil the kidneys until cooked through.

  2. Sprinkle with cayenne pepper before serving.

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. Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Pepper + mustardtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 recipes

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

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

Oil
Carries the seasonings and keeps the kidneys moist during cooking.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that sharpens the flavour of the dressing.
Mustard
Adds pungent flavour and helps the dressing cling to the kidneys.

The step that matters

Broil the kidneys until cooked through. Kidneys turn tough and rubbery if overcooked, so they need enough heat to cook through without drying out. Checking them as they cook helps avoid both raw centres and a chewy texture.

Swap the mustard

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

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Mustardthe original
  3. Cabbagefits about as well
  4. Cucumberfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, 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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