Why it works: Beef and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,971 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Beef Steak Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderately quick oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the filling
Cut the beef steak into thin slices.
Mix the flour, salt, and pepper together.
Roll each slice of meat in the flour mixture.
Wrap each slice with a small piece of fat.
Place the rolls in a pie dish.
Chop the ox kidney and place it on top of the meat rolls.
Pour the stock over the meat and kidney.
Bake and serve
Cover the pie with the puff pastry and decorate it.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for about 2 hours.
When the pastry is browned, move it to a cooler part of the oven to finish cooking the meat.
Cover the pie with kitchen paper and add more gravy if needed after cooking.
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.
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Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Beef + flourtop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together10,677 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Beef and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 10,677 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
- Beef steak
- Provides the main meat, which becomes tender during the long, slow baking.
- Flour
- Coats the meat so the juices thicken into a gravy around it.
- Ox kidney
- Adds a rich, deep flavour and firm, meaty texture to the filling.
- Stock
- Supplies liquid that cooks the meat and forms the gravy.
- Rough puff pastry
- Forms a flaky, rich crust that browns in the oven over the filling.
The step that matters
Moving the pie to a cooler part of the oven once the pastry is browned. Once the pastry is browned, further direct heat would burn it, so moving the pie to a cooler spot lets the meat finish cooking gently while the crust stays intact.
“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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