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Planked Sirloin Steak with Oysters

A grilled sirloin steak topped with mashed potatoes and broiled oysters, finished under a broiler.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,305 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Planked Sirloin Steak with Oysters

Oven, in the book's wordsA sharp oven

Ingredients

Directions

Grill the steak

  1. Trim the sirloin steak neatly.

  2. Grill the steak for 5 minutes on one side.

  3. Turn the steak and grill for another 5 minutes.

Plank the steak

  1. Heat the planking board while the steak cooks.

  2. Place the steak on the hot board.

  3. Garnish with mashed potatoes.

Broil and serve

  1. Put the steak under the broiler.

  2. Turn the steak once.

  3. Season with salt and pepper.

  4. Rub with butter.

  5. Cover the top with broiled oysters.

  6. Grill for a few more minutes.

  7. 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 + potatotop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Butter + oystertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,184 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).

  3. Butter + potatotop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,456 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Potato + oystertop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together229 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  5. Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Sirloin steak
Provides the main meaty body and beefy flavour, browning on the grill.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture, and helps the surface brown.
Broiled oysters
Contribute a briny, savoury flavour and a soft, rich topping.
Mashed potatoes
Offer a soft, starchy base that contrasts with the seared steak.
Black pepper
Adds a sharp, aromatic bite to the steak.

The step that matters

Turn the steak and grill for another 5 minutes. Turning once lets both sides brown and cook evenly. Leaving it too long on one side or overcooking it dries the meat and toughens the surface.

Swap the potato

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

  1. Capsicumfits about as well
  2. Potatothe original
  3. Shallotfits about as well
  4. Cucumberfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, butter, oyster. 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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