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Beoiled Mutton Kidneys

Broiled mutton kidneys served with croutons and optional gravy, wine or ketchup sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Beoiled Mutton Kidneys

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the kidneys

  1. Split the kidneys open lengthwise without dividing them; remove the skin and fat.

  2. Run a fine skewer through the points and across the back of the kidneys to keep them flat while broiling.

  3. Season the kidneys with coarse sea salt and cayenne pepper.

Broil and fry

  1. Broil the kidneys over a clear brisk fire with the cut sides facing the heat for 4-5 minutes.

  2. Turn the kidneys and cook for an additional 4-5 minutes.

  3. Meanwhile, fry the croutons in a little clarified butter until golden and keep them hot.

  4. Arrange the split kidneys in a clean frying pan and pour clarified butter over them.

  5. Fry the kidneys over a brisk fire until cooked through.

Serve

  1. Place each half of the kidney on a crouton.

  2. Make a sauce in the pan using gravy instead of water, adding a little wine or ketchup if available.

  3. Pour the sauce around the croutons and serve immediately.

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 + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Mutton + breadtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,488 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Butter + winetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,645 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).

  4. Mutton + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together5,442 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  5. Mutton + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,781 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

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

What each ingredient does

Mutton kidneys
Main protein; they cook quickly and turn tender when broiled or fried briefly.
Clarified butter
Fat that fries the kidneys and croutons evenly and adds richness and browning.
Bread croutons
Absorbent base that holds the kidneys and soaks up the pan sauce.
Gravy
Liquid base for the sauce, adding savoury depth and body.

The step that matters

Cooking the kidneys through without overcooking. Kidneys become tough and rubbery when overcooked, so the cook must watch the brisk heat closely and stop once they are just cooked through.

“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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