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A LA Mode Beef

A roast beef stuffed and served with force-meat balls in a wine and ketchup gravy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 14 ingredients
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A LA Mode Beef

Why it works: Pepper and sage match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,388 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

A LA Mode Beef

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the beef

  1. Remove the bone from the beef and tie it into a round shape.

  2. Make small incisions in the beef and fill them with stuffing.

Make the force-meat balls

  1. To make force-meat balls, mix grated bread, chopped suet, and seasonings.

  2. Wet the mixture with eggs and roll into small balls.

  3. Fry the balls in a little butter if desired.

Cook

  1. Place the beef in a large pot and cover with water.

  2. Season with salt, pepper, cloves, onion, and herbs.

  3. Boil slowly for 2 hours.

  4. Add red wine and tomato ketchup, then add the force-meat balls.

  5. Cook for an additional 20 minutes, adding water if the gravy boils away.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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 + sagetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,388 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Clove + sagetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together731 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  3. Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  4. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

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

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

Round of beef
Forms the main meat that becomes tender and flavourful during long, slow boiling.
Beef suet
Adds fat to the stuffing and force-meat balls, keeping them moist and rich.
Eggs
Bind the bread and suet mixture so the force-meat balls hold their shape.
Grated bread
Provides body to the stuffing and force-meat balls, absorbing moisture and fat.
Red wine
Adds acidity and depth of flavour to the cooking liquid and gravy.
Tomato ketchup
Adds sweetness, acidity and savoury depth to the gravy.

The step that matters

Boil slowly for 2 hours. Gentle simmering breaks down the connective tissue in the beef slowly, making it tender. A rapid boil can toughen the meat and evaporate the liquid too fast.

Swap the sage

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, pepper, clove, onion, red wine, tomato, ketchup):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Celeryfits better
  3. Garlicfits better
  4. Sagethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, pepper, clove, onion, red wine, tomato, ketchup. 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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