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Ox-Kidney Saute

Sautéed ox kidney with wine reduction, broth, water, and parsley.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Ox-Kidney Saute

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the kidney

  1. Cut the ox kidney in half lengthwise, then slice each piece into thin slices.

  2. Melt the butter in a sauté pan, then add the kidney slices.

  3. Season with salt and pepper, then fry until lightly browned, shaking the pan frequently.

  4. Remove the slices and let them drain.

Make the sauce and finish

  1. In a saucepan, combine the white wine, salt, and pepper, then boil until reduced to one-fourth its original quantity.

  2. Return the kidney slices to the sauté pan, dredge with flour, and fry for 2-3 minutes.

  3. Add the reduced wine, broth, and water, then boil for 5 minutes.

  4. Stir in the chopped parsley and serve hot.

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. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Butter + white winetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,083 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  3. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Flour + parsleytop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together16,675 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together28,563 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

Butter and flour 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

Ox kidney
Is the main protein, cooked quickly so it browns outside and stays tender inside.
Butter
Carries the frying heat and adds fat, helping the kidney slices brown.
French white wine
Reduced by boiling to concentrate its flavour and acidity into the sauce.
Flour
Dredging coats the slices so they brown and help thicken the pan liquid.
Broth
Adds savory body and liquid to the sauce.

The step that matters

Fry the kidney until lightly browned, shaking the pan. Kidney overcooks quickly and turns firm and rubbery if held too long over heat. Frequent shaking keeps the slices moving so they brown evenly without drying out, while the inside stays tender.

Swap the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, pepper, white wine, flour):

  1. Thymefits about as well
  2. Parsleythe original
  3. Tarragonfits about as well
  4. Marjoramfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, pepper, white wine, flour. 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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