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Supreme of Beef Tenderloin

A roast of beef tenderloin mixed with panada, butter, brown sauce, eggs, and seasonings, baked in timbale molds with marrow, mushrooms, and peppers.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Beef and mushroom are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,232 recipes. Both carry 2,4-nonadienal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Supreme of Beef Tenderloin

Oven, in the book's wordsA slow oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the forcemeat

  1. Scrape the beef from the fibers and pound in a mortar.

  2. While pounding, add panada, butter, and reduced brown sauce.

  3. Add seasonings and eggs, then pass through a fine sieve.

  4. Set on ice and beat in the second cup of sauce.

Fill and cook

  1. Line buttered timbale molds with the forcemeat.

  2. Fill the centers with a mixture of cooked marrow, mushrooms, and peppers, cut into small squares and mixed with thick brown sauce.

  3. Cover the top with a layer of forcemeat.

  4. Place the molds on several folds of paper in a dish of hot water.

  5. Cook in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C) for about 15 minutes.

Serve

  1. Unmold and serve with Spanish sauce.

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. Beef + mushroomtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,232 recipes

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

  2. Butter + mushroomtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,525 recipes

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

  3. Nutmeg + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,971 recipes

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

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

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

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

What each ingredient does

Beef tenderloin
Provides the main meaty body of the forcemeat once pounded and sieved.
Eggs
Bind the forcemeat so it holds its shape when set and cooked.
Panada
Adds starch and moisture that keep the forcemeat tender and light.
Butter
Adds fat that enriches texture and keeps the forcemeat moist.
Brown sauce
Adds moisture and savory flavor to the forcemeat and the filling.
Egg yolks
Add richness and help the forcemeat set smoothly.

The step that matters

Pass the forcemeat through a fine sieve. Sieving breaks down fibers and lumps so the forcemeat becomes smooth and even. Lumps left in would give a coarse, uneven texture after the gentle cooking.

Swap the nutmeg

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

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Tarragonfits about as well
  3. Thymefits about as well
  4. Nutmegthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, egg, butter, sauce, mushroom, 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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