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Braized Fillet of Beef, with Madeira Sauce

A braised beef fillet finished with a Madeira sauce and garnished with vegetables or potatoes.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Beef and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,052 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓

Braized Fillet of Beef, with Madeira Sauce

Ingredients

Directions

Braise the beef

  1. Lard the fillet of beef and prepare it for braising.

  2. Moisten the fillet with the bottle of Madeira.

  3. Braise the fillet gently on a slow fire, basting frequently with its own juices.

Glaze and serve

  1. Once cooked, glaze the fillet and place it on a serving dish.

  2. Garnish with Jardiniere, Macedoine, or nicely fried potatoes.

  3. Clarify the braising liquid, reduce it to a half-glaze consistency, and use it to sauce the fillet 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. Beef + potatotop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,052 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  2. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

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

  3. Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,971 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

Beef fillet
Lean, tender meat that is cooked gently in liquid so it stays moist and soft.
Madeira
Adds sweetness and depth of flavour to the braising liquid, which becomes the sauce.
Vegetables for braising
Flavour the braising liquid and add aromatic depth to the sauce.

The step that matters

Braise gently on a slow fire. Slow, gentle heat keeps the connective tissue and protein from tightening and drying out, so the fillet stays moist. Frequent basting with its juices keeps the surface moist and builds a glossy, flavourful glaze.

Swap the potato

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

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Tomatofits about as well
  3. Carrotfits about as well
  4. Potatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, pepper. 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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