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To Broil Beef Steaks

A simple method for grilling thin beef steaks seasoned with pepper and optional mushroom ketchup.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Beef and mushroom are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,232 recipes. Both carry 2,4-nonadienal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

To Broil Beef Steaks

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Select steaks from the middle of a well-kept, tender cut of beef.

  2. Trim the steaks and ensure they are evenly sliced.

  3. Preheat the grill until hot but not burning.

  4. Wipe the grill bars with fresh mutton fat or oil.

  5. Season the steaks lightly with black pepper, avoiding salt until after cooking.

Grill and serve

  1. Place the steaks on the grill and cook for 4 to 5 minutes on one side.

  2. Turn the steaks and cook for another 4 to 5 minutes, monitoring for doneness.

  3. Serve immediately on hot plates, collecting any juices that drain.

  4. If desired, warm a small amount of mushroom ketchup in the serving dish.

  5. Optionally, rub the dish with a cut shallot before serving.

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. Beef + mushroomtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

  2. Mushroom + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,525 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  3. Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,971 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Beef + muttontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,373 recipes

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

  5. Pepper + mushroomtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together13,580 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef steaks
Provide the main meat, which browns on the hot grill and becomes tender when cooked briefly.
Fresh mutton fat or oil
Coats the grill bars so the steaks do not stick and the surface can brown.
Black pepper
Adds sharp aroma and a mild bite to the seared surface of the steaks.

The step that matters

Preheating the grill until hot but not burning. A very hot surface sears the outside quickly, forming a browned crust that locks in juices. If the grill is too cool the steaks steam and turn grey, and if it burns the outside chars before the inside cooks.

“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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