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To Stew Beefsteaks

A stew of beefsteaks simmered in gravy with butter, flour, and egg yolks.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

To Stew Beefsteaks

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the beef

  1. Half-broil the beefsteaks.

  2. Lay the beefsteaks in a stew-pan and season to taste.

Stew and finish

  1. Add enough strong gravy to cover the beefsteaks and a bit of butter rolled in flour.

  2. Let them stew for 30 minutes.

  3. Stir in the beaten yolks of two eggs and cook for another 10 minutes.

  4. Serve it up.

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. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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

Beefsteaks
Provide the meat that becomes tender during the long, moist stewing.
Strong gravy
Supplies the liquid that cooks the beef and carries the stew's savory flavour.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, helping the sauce feel smooth and full.
Flour
Thickens the gravy as it cooks, giving the sauce body.
Egg yolks
Enrich and thicken the sauce as they set gently with the heat.

The step that matters

Stirring in the beaten yolks. Egg yolks can curdle or scramble if the liquid is too hot or boils hard. Keeping the stew at a gentle heat lets the yolks thicken it smoothly.

“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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