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To Broil Beef-steak

A simple broiled beef steak seasoned with pepper, sea salt, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
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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 ↓

To Broil Beef-steak

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut the steak into slices ¾ to 1 inch thick.

  2. Dust the steak with pepper if desired.

Cook and serve

  1. Place the steak on a grill over a hot fire.

  2. Turn the steak frequently while cooking.

  3. Cook until it reaches your preferred doneness.

  4. Transfer the steak to a hot dish.

  5. Rub the steak with a little butter and sprinkle with coarse sea salt.

  6. Serve immediately to enjoy its flavor and juiciness.

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. Beef + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,847 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).

  3. Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef steak
Provides the main meat, which browns on the hot surface and stays juicy when not overcooked.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture to the cooked surface of the steak.

The step that matters

Cook until it reaches your preferred doneness. Meat keeps cooking after it leaves the heat, and high heat can dry out the outside before the centre is done. Checking the doneness during cooking helps keep the steak juicy.

“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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