Why it works: Mushroom and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,525 recipes. Both carry trans-2-decenal, which smells waxy, orange. The science ↓
Creamed Turkey with Mushrooms
Ingredients
Directions
Make the creamed turkey
In a pan, melt the butter over medium heat.
Add the flour and stir to create a roux.
Gradually add the mushrooms and turkey, stirring until well combined.
Cook until heated through and creamy.
Serve
Serve in patty shells.
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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Mushroom + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,525 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
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Turkey + mushroomtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together205 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Turkey + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,592 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
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Mushroom + flourtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,253 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter 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
- Turkey
- Provides the main protein and bulk of the dish.
- Mushrooms
- Add earthy flavor and a soft, meaty texture.
- Flour
- Thickens the butter into a roux that gives the sauce body.
- Butter
- Carries flavor and forms the base roux with the flour.
The step that matters
Adding the mushrooms and turkey to the roux. Adding the mushrooms and turkey gradually while stirring keeps the roux smooth and lump-free. Adding everything at once can leave flour clumps, so the sauce will not thicken evenly.
“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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