Why it works: Egg and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 33% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 50,580 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Beef-steak Pie
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 filling
Beat the rump steaks with a rolling pin.
Season the rump steaks with seasoning salt.
Lay the seasoned rump steaks in the dish.
Build the pastry crust
Wet the edge of a pie dish.
Place an edging of puff pastry around the dish.
Fill the dish halfway with water.
Wet the pastry edging again.
Cover the dish with a thick layer of pastry.
Trim the excess pastry.
Wash the top of the pastry with beaten egg.
Decorate the top with pastry leaves washed with egg.
Bake and serve
Bake the pie in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C).
Make a hole in the top or side of the crust.
Pour in rich gravy seasoned with salt and pepper.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
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Egg + peppertop 33% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together50,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Egg and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 50,580 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
- Rump steaks
- Provide the meat, which is beaten to tenderise it before cooking.
- Puff pastry
- Forms the flaky crust that encloses the filling and browns during baking.
- Egg
- Brushed on the pastry so the crust browns and gains a glossy finish.
- Gravy
- Adds moisture and savoury flavour to the filling as the pie bakes.
The step that matters
Make a hole in the top or side of the crust. The vent lets steam escape while the pie bakes. Without it, pressure builds inside the sealed pastry and can lift or split the crust.
“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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