Why it works: Onion and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Pot Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Layer the filling
Layer the steak, onions, and potatoes in a pie dish.
Season each layer and add a little water.
Repeat layers until the dish is full.
Bake
Cover with pie crust and bake in the hot part of the oven for 20 minutes.
Move to a cooler part of the oven to finish baking until cooked through.
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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Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Shoulder steak
- Provides the main meat, and its fat and connective tissue add flavour and moisture as it cooks.
- Onions
- Add sweetness and aroma as they soften and release their sugars during baking.
- Potatoes
- Their starch softens and thickens the juices, giving the filling body.
- Pie crust
- Encloses the filling and browns to form a crisp, golden top.
The step that matters
Moving the pie to a cooler part of the oven. The hot start sets and browns the crust, but it can scorch before the filling is done. A cooler spot lets the steak and potatoes cook through gently without burning the top.
“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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