Why it works: Beef and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,092 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Stuffed Heart
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the heart
Wash the heart thoroughly to remove all blood.
Cut through the partition to make the two cells into one, being careful not to cut through to the outside.
Prepare a stuffing of bread crumbs similar to that for roast turkey and fill the cavity of the heart.
Cover the heart with greased paper or cloth to secure the stuffing.
Roast and make gravy
Place the heart in a deep pan with plenty of water and bake at 350°F (175°C) for two hours or longer, basting and turning often.
While the heart is roasting, cut off the valves (deaf ears) after washing and place them in a saucepan with 1 pint of cold water and the sliced onion.
Let the mixture simmer slowly for one hour.
In another saucepan, melt 1 tablespoon of butter, add 1 tablespoon of flour, then stir in the strained liquid from the valves to make gravy.
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.
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Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,092 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Beef + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,032 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
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Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together42,912 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Heart
- Forms the main meat; its dense muscle becomes tender with long, slow baking.
- Bread crumbs
- Make up the stuffing that fills the cavity, absorbing juices and holding its shape.
- Butter
- Adds richness and flavor to the gravy base.
- Flour
- Thickens the butter and liquid into a smooth gravy.
The step that matters
Cutting through the partition. Opening the two cells into one cavity must be done without piercing the outer wall, or the stuffing will leak out during roasting.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, bread, butter, flour):
- Leekfits better
- Shallotfits about as well
- Chivefits about as well
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, bread, butter, 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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