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Beef Cutlets in Paper

Beef cutlets wrapped in parchment paper and baked.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 18 ingredients
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Why it works: Chive and mustard match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 587 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Beef Cutlets in Paper

six cutlets
Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the cutlets

  1. Mix the minced beef, bacon, mushroom, chives or shallot, salt, pepper, cayenne, mustard, egg yolk, beef gravy, and sherry until well combined.

  2. Form the mixture into six cutlets.

  3. Dip each cutlet into melted butter, then dredge lightly with flour.

  4. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Coat and wrap

  1. Season the bread crumbs with mixed herbs, salt, and grated nutmeg.

  2. Dip each cutlet into the beaten egg, then coat with the seasoned bread crumbs.

  3. Butter six half-sheets of parchment paper, place a cutlet in each, fold the edges to form a packet, and place on a baking tray.

Bake and serve

  1. Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) for 25 minutes.

  2. Serve in the paper.

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. Chive + mustardtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together587 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  2. Beef + mushroomtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,232 recipes

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

  3. Mushroom + sherrytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,176 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-methylphenol (smoky, clove).

  4. Mushroom + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,525 recipes

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

  5. Mushroom + chivetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together553 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, 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 body and meaty texture of the cutlets.
Fat bacon
Adds fat that keeps the cutlets moist and flavourful as they cook.
Egg yolk
Binds the minced mixture so the cutlets hold their shape.
Bread crumbs
Form a crisp, golden coating on the outside of each cutlet.
Butter
Adds richness and helps the coating brown in the oven.

The step that matters

Refrigerate for 1 hour. Chilling firms the fat and the egg-bound mixture so the cutlets hold their shape and keep their coating during baking.

Swap the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, mushroom, chive, pepper, egg, sherry, butter):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Leekfits better
  3. Asparagusfits better
  4. Mustardthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, mushroom, chive, pepper, egg, sherry, 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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