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Beef Coquettes

Beef Coquettes are small beef balls coated in cracker crumbs and fried.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Beef Coquettes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. In a bowl, combine chopped beef, pepper, salt, bread crumbs, and enough milk to moisten.

  2. Flour your hands and shape the mixture into balls.

Coat and fry

  1. Dip each ball into the beaten egg, then coat with pulverized cracker.

  2. Fry the coated balls in butter until golden brown.

Serve

  1. Garnish with parsley 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. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

  2. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

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

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

  5. Bread + milktop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,466 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Cold roast beef
Provides the main filling and meaty flavour of the croquettes.
Bread crumbs
Absorb milk and help bind the mixture so the balls hold their shape.
Milk
Moistens the bread crumbs and beef so the mixture stays tender rather than dry.
Beaten egg
Binds the coating to the balls and helps the cracker crust set during frying.
Butter
Conducts heat for frying and promotes browning and a rich flavour on the crust.

The step that matters

Fry until golden brown. The coating needs enough hot butter to brown and crisp without burning; too little heat leaves the crust pale and greasy, while too much browns the outside before the filling is heated through.

Swap the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, pepper, bread, milk, flour, egg, butter):

  1. Nutmegfits about as well
  2. Parsleythe original
  3. Cinnamonfits about as well
  4. Marjoramfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, pepper, bread, milk, flour, egg, 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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