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To Broil a Beefsteak

A steak broiled on a hot gridiron, served with a parsley and lemon butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

To Broil a Beefsteak

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the grill

  1. Ensure the fire is clear and clean.

  2. Heat the gridiron until very hot and grease it.

Cook the steak

  1. Lay the steak on the gridiron and turn it after 1 minute.

  2. Turn the steak frequently, cooking for 8 to 10 minutes until red and juicy.

  3. Check doneness by pressing with a knife; it should be slightly elastic.

Finish and serve

  1. Prepare Maitre d'Hôtel Butter by mixing butter, parsley, and lemon juice.

  2. Once cooked, place the steak on a hot platter and spread the butter over it.

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. Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,037 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together28,563 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  3. Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,227 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Porter-house steak
Provides the main meat, which browns and firms as it cooks over direct heat.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture, melting over the hot steak to coat its surface.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the rich butter and beef flavour.

The step that matters

Checking doneness by pressing with a knife. Cooking time varies with steak thickness and heat, so pressing the meat shows how firm it is. Overcooking dries out the muscle fibres and toughens the steak, so checking early and often helps keep it juicy.

“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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