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Stuffed Steak

A braised steak rolled with bread stuffing, tomatoes, and onion, finished with a thickened sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Tomato and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,923 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Stuffed Steak

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 the steak

  1. Pound and score the steak.

  2. Cover the steak with the bread stuffing and roll it up tightly.

  3. Tie the rolled steak securely and place it in a braising pan.

Brown and braise

  1. Place the pan in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) and brown the steak uncovered.

  2. Add stock to the pan and cook until the steak is tender, basting often.

  3. Once tender, add the strained tomatoes and chopped onion.

  4. Cook for an additional 10 minutes.

Finish and serve

  1. Remove the steak from the pan and place it on a hot platter.

  2. If necessary, thicken the sauce with flour and strain it over the steak 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. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

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

  2. Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,633 recipes

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

  3. Bread + tomatotop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,013 recipes

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

  4. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

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

  5. Bread + oniontop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,676 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

What each ingredient does

Steak (in the method)
Forms the main body that is rolled around the stuffing and becomes tender during braising.
Bread stuffing
Fills the rolled steak, adding moisture and flavour as it cooks inside.
Strained tomatoes
Adds acidity and body to the sauce made from the braising liquid.
Flour
Thickens the cooking liquid into a smoother, more cohesive sauce.
Stock
Provides the braising liquid that keeps the steak moist and tender.

The step that matters

Browning the rolled steak before braising. Searing the outside in a hot oven creates browned flavour through the Maillard reaction, which adds depth to the sauce. Browning uncovered also helps the surface set before liquid is added.

Swap the onion

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

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Eggplantfits better
  3. Okrafits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against bread, tomato, pepper, flour. 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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