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Stewed Kidneys

A lamb kidney dish stewed with tomato, mushrooms, pepper, salt, and water, baked in a buttered bag.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Tomato and mushroom are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,719 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓

Stewed Kidneys

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Cut the lamb kidneys into small pieces.

  2. In a bowl, combine the kidneys, sliced tomato, mushrooms, pepper, salt, and water.

Bake

  1. Place the mixture in a well buttered baking bag.

  2. Fold and fasten the bag securely.

  3. Cook in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) for 5 to 10 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. Tomato + mushroomtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,719 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  2. Mushroom + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,525 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  3. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

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

  4. Mushroom + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together13,580 recipes

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

  5. Lamb + tomatotop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together979 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Lambs' kidneys
Provide the main meat, which becomes tender with short, gentle cooking in moisture.
Tomato
Adds moisture and acidity that help form a light sauce as the mixture cooks.
Mushrooms
Add savoury, earthy flavour and moisture to the stewed mixture.

The step that matters

Fold and fasten the bag securely. A tightly sealed bag traps steam so the kidneys stew in their own juices and tomato. A leaky bag lets moisture escape, which can leave the meat drier and less tender.

Swap the tomato

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

  1. Potatofits about as well
  2. Asparagusfits about as well
  3. Spinachfits about as well
  4. Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lamb, mushroom, pepper, butter. 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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