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 ↓
Steak and Kidney Pie
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the filling
Make a pastry crust as directed in the previous recipe.
Cut the steak into thin slices and dip each slice in a mixture of flour, salt, and pepper.
Roll a slice of kidney and a small piece of fat into each slice of beef.
Place the beef in a pie dish and pour in enough water or stock to come halfway up the dish.
Assemble and bake
Wet the edges of the dish and line with a strip of paste.
Brush the edge of the crust with egg, milk, or water, and place a cover of paste on top.
Make a small incision in the center of the paste and decorate with fancifully cut leaves of paste.
Brush with beaten egg yolk and bake for about 1 hour.
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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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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
- Rump or buttock steak
- Provides the main meat, which becomes tender during the long, slow baking in liquid.
- Kidney
- Adds a rich, savory depth of flavor to the meat filling.
- Flour
- Coats the beef slices, helping the filling thicken slightly in the cooking liquid.
- Butter
- Adds richness and helps the pastry become tender and flaky.
- Beaten egg
- Brushed on the pastry to promote even browning and a glossy finish.
The step that matters
Brushing the pastry with egg. A thin, even egg coat gives the crust an even golden colour and shine; uneven or heavy brushing can cause patchy browning or a greasy look.
“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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