Why it works: Egg and oyster are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,103 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Beef-steak Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a fierce oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the beef
Trim off coarse skin and excess fat from the steak.
If the beef is tough, gently beat it with a rolling pin until tender.
Slice the beef into pieces half the size of your hand.
Season the beef with salt and pepper.
Assemble the pie
Place the beef slices in a dish lined with pastry.
Add enough water to create gravy.
Cover the beef with pastry.
Brush the edges of the pastry with egg or cold water.
Seal the pastry securely.
Trim the pastry edges.
Cut a small vent in the center of the pastry.
Decorate the pie as desired.
For a richer pie, layer in oysters and add their strained liquor to the gravy.
Bake
Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) for about 1 hour and 20 minutes.
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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Egg + oystertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,103 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Pepper + oystertop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,663 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Pepper + eggtop 33% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together50,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Pepper and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 50,580 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Rump steak
- Provides the main meat, which becomes tender during the long bake in the pie.
- Puff pastry
- Forms a flaky, crisp crust that seals in the meat and gravy while browning in the oven.
- Water
- Mixes with the meat juices to create the gravy that keeps the filling moist.
The step that matters
Sealing the pastry. A tight seal keeps steam and juices inside so the filling stays moist and forms gravy, while a vent lets excess steam escape and prevents the crust from bursting.
“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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