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Grilled Kidneys and Bacon

A grilled dish of sheep kidneys and bacon served on fried bread with a lemon‑parsley butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Lemon and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Grilled Kidneys and Bacon

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

  1. Mix butter, lemon juice, parsley, pepper, and salt with a knife to make maître d'hôtel butter, then set aside to harden.

  2. Remove skin from kidneys, wash, and dry them.

  3. Split each kidney almost in two and remove the core.

  4. Skewer each kidney and place on a greased double gridiron over a clear fire.

  5. Roll up each slice of bacon and skewer it.

Cook and serve

  1. Cook until browned, about 5 to 7 minutes, turning to cook both sides.

  2. Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) until crisp, about 5 minutes.

  3. Serve each kidney on a round of fried bread with a pat of the butter on top.

  4. Pile the bacon in the center of the dish.

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. Lemon + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,037 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

  3. Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  4. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

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

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

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

What each ingredient does

Sheep kidneys
Main protein that browns on the grill and forms the body of the dish.
Bacon
Fat renders as it crisps, adding savoury flavour and crunch to the dish.
Butter
Melts over the hot kidneys and adds richness and a silky mouthfeel.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the rich kidney and butter flavours.

The step that matters

Cook until browned, turning to cook both sides. Kidneys turn tough and rubbery when overcooked, so they should brown quickly over a hot fire and be removed while still tender inside. Turning ensures even browning and cooking on both faces.

“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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