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Beef Leaf

A rolled beef dish with bacon, ham, and spices, baked in butter and caramel.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Thyme and marjoram match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,225 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓

Beef Leaf

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Flatten and season the beefsteak slices with salt and pepper.

  2. Make the dressing by mixing bacon, shallot, parsley, ham, beef trimmings, spices, bread crumbs, and the egg.

  3. Arrange alternate layers of steak and dressing, then roll up and tie firmly with string.

Bake

  1. Place in a buttered bag with butter and caramel, fold and secure the bag.

  2. Cook in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 35 minutes.

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. Thyme + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  2. Marjoram + sagetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together507 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  3. Thyme + sagetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,485 recipes

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

  4. Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  5. Parsley + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,979 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

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

What each ingredient does

Beefsteak
Forms the outer wrapper that holds the dressing and cooks into tender layers.
Egg
Binds the dressing so it holds together when sliced.
Bread crumbs
Absorb moisture and help the dressing hold its shape.
Bacon
Adds fat and savoury flavour that keeps the dressing moist.
Butter
Adds fat and richness to the bag, promoting moisture and browning.
Caramel
Adds colour and a touch of sweetness to the cooking juices.

The step that matters

Rolling and tying the layers. If the roll is loose or the string is weak, the layers can separate and the dressing can leak out during baking, so the roll should be firm and evenly tied.

Swap the shallot

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, parsley, ham, beef, thyme, marjoram, sage):

  1. Carrotfits better
  2. Shallotthe original
  3. Parsnipfits about as well
  4. Turnipfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, parsley, ham, beef, thyme, marjoram, sage. 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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