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To Broil Beef-Steaks

Broiled beef steaks seasoned with salt and pepper, optionally served with shallot or onion and mushroom ketchup.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Shallot and mushroom are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,982 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

To Broil Beef-Steaks

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Cut steaks from a tender part of the beef.

  2. Rub the griddle with suet and heat it.

  3. Beat the steaks with a rolling pin before broiling.

  4. Broil the steaks until browned on one side.

  5. Turn the steaks and let them cook until done.

  6. Preserve the gravy that forms on top.

  7. Transfer the steaks to a hot dish and place a bit of butter underneath.

  8. Optionally, add chopped shallot or onion and mushroom ketchup.

  9. Season with salt and pepper just 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. Shallot + mushroomtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,982 recipes

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

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

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

  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. Pepper + mushroomtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together13,580 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef steaks
Forms the main meat, browning on the hot surface and producing the drippings that become the gravy.
Suet
Rendered fat greases the griddle, helping the steaks brown evenly without sticking.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture, melting under the hot steaks for a silky finish.
Shallot or onion
Adds aroma and gentle sweetness when cooked in the pan juices.
Mushroom ketchup
Adds savory depth and an acidic, umami note to the gravy.

The step that matters

Turn the steaks and cook until done. Browning forms on the first side, and the second side needs enough heat to finish cooking without drying out. Turning too early or leaving the steaks too long on the heat makes the meat tough and the gravy scorched or thin.

Swap the shallot

The recipe marks shallot as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, butter, pepper, mushroom, ketchup):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Tomatofits about as well
  3. Onionfits about as well
  4. Shallotthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, butter, 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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