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Beef Kidneys for the Dejeuner Ci LA Fourchette

A minced beef kidney dish fried and finished with gravy and champagne, served hot.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Beef and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,971 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Beef Kidneys for the Dejeuner Ci LA Fourchette

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare and cook

  1. Mince the kidneys into bits the size of a hazelnut.

  2. Season the minced kidneys with salt, pepper, and cayenne.

  3. Fry the mince for 15 minutes or until tender.

Finish and serve

  1. Moisten the mince with gravy and champagne.

  2. Serve in a hot-water dish.

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

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

  2. Pepper + champagnetop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together280 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).

  3. Beef + champagnetop 31% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together31 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef kidneys
Provide the main meat, which turns tender and rich when fried.
Gravy
Adds moisture and savoury depth to the minced kidneys.
Champagne
Adds moisture and a bright, acidic note to the finished dish.

The step that matters

Fry the mince for 15 minutes or until tender. Kidney is tough if underdone and dries out if overcooked. Frying until tender, while watching the texture, gives a soft result. Keep the pieces small so they cook 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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