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To Stew Kidneys

A stew of sliced kidneys cooked in butter, simmered with onions, pepper, salt, and mushroom ketchup.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Beef and mushroom are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,232 recipes. Both carry 2,4-nonadienal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

To Stew Kidneys

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the kidneys

  1. Slice the kidneys and wash them.

  2. Dry the kidneys with a clean cloth and dust them with flour.

Brown and stew

  1. Fry the kidneys in butter until browned.

  2. Pour hot water or beef gravy into the pan along with minced onions, pepper, and salt to taste.

  3. Let the mixture stew slowly for one hour.

  4. Add one or two spoonfuls of mushroom ketchup 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. Beef + mushroomtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

  2. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

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

  3. Butter + mushroomtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,525 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

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

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

  5. Onion + mushroomtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,626 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

What each ingredient does

Kidneys
Form the main body of the stew, providing the dish's meaty texture and character.
Flour
Dusted on the dried kidneys, it helps them brown and thickens the stewing liquid.
Butter
Fat for frying the kidneys, promoting browning and adding richness.
Hot water or beef gravy
Forms the stewing liquid that cooks the kidneys gently and softens them.
Minced onions
Add aromatic sweetness and savory depth to the stewing liquid as it cooks.
Mushroom ketchup
Added near the end to contribute a concentrated savory, umami flavor.

The step that matters

Drying the kidneys before dusting with flour. Moisture on the kidneys would steam them instead of browning, and wet surfaces make the flour clump rather than coat evenly. Dry pieces brown better and give the stew a more developed flavor.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, beef, pepper, mushroom, ketchup):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Chivefits about as well
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, beef, pepper, mushroom, ketchup. 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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