Name: Emeril's Beef Stew
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 40 min
Yield: about 3 quarts, 6 servings
Ingredients: 3 tablespoons olive oil; 3 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch pieces; 2 teaspoons kosher salt; 2 teaspoons Essence, recipe follows; 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper; 3 tablespoons unsalted butter; 1 pound button mushrooms, quartered; 2 cups roughly chopped yellow onions; 2 cups sliced carrots, (1-inch slices cut crosswise on a diagonal); 2 celery stalks, roughly chopped; 1 tablespoon roughly chopped garlic; 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour; 4 1/2 cups veal or beef stock, at room temperature; 4 tablespoons tomato paste; 1 sprig fresh thyme; 1 sprig fresh rosemary; 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice; 3 to 4 cups 1-inch dice russet potatoes; 1 cup frozen green peas, thawed; 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves; Steamed white rice or buttered egg noodles, for serving; 2 1/2 tablespoons paprika; 2 tablespoons salt; 2 tablespoons garlic powder; 1 tablespoon black pepper; 1 tablespoon onion powder; 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper; 1 tablespoon dried oregano; 1 tablespoon dried thyme

Why it works: Beef and mushroom are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,232 recipes. Both carry 2,4-nonadienal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

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.

Beef + mushroomtop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,232 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
Pepper + carrottop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,555 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together21,601 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Olive + mushroomtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,571 recipes

Shared aroma: trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,092 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

Swap the carrot

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, beef, meat, pepper, butter, mushroom, onion):

Potatofits better
Tomatofits better
Capsicumfits better
Carrotthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, beef, meat, pepper, butter, mushroom, onion. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Beef	100g cooked	250
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Pea	1/2 cup (72g)	62
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Mushroom	1/2 cup sliced (35g)	15
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Celery Stalks	1 stalk (40g)	6
Allspice	1 tsp ground (1.9g)	5
Oregano	1 tsp dried (1.8g)	5
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Rosemary	1 tsp dried (1.2g)	4
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Veal	not in our table	0

Emeril's Beef Stew