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Cold Meat and Potato, Baked

A baked dish of cold meat and mashed potatoes with a buttery sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Onion and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Cold Meat and Potato, Baked

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the filling

  1. In a frying pan, melt the cold butter over medium heat.

  2. Add the chopped onion and flour, stirring constantly until smooth and frothy.

  3. Pour in the cold milk or water, season with salt and pepper, and bring to a boil.

  4. Stir in the chopped cold meat and heat thoroughly.

Assemble and bake

  1. Transfer the mixture to a well-buttered shallow dish.

  2. Spread the mashed potatoes over the top.

  3. Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) for 15 to 20 minutes.

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. Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

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

  2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Pepper + potatotop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

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

  4. Milk + potatotop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,611 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).

  5. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Butter
Adds richness and flavour to the roux base and helps keep the filling tender.
Flour
Thickens the cold milk or water into a smooth, creamy sauce that binds the meat.
Milk or water
Forms the liquid of the sauce, giving the filling moisture as it comes to a boil.
Cooked meat
Provides the main protein and savoury flavour of the casserole.
Mashed potatoes
Forms a soft topping that bakes into a golden crust over the filling.

The step that matters

Bringing the sauce to a boil. Flour only thickens fully when the liquid reaches a boil, so the sauce must be brought to a boil and stirred to avoid lumps and a thin, floury filling.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, milk, pepper, meat, potato):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Asparagusfits better
  3. Chivefits about as well
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, milk, pepper, meat, potato. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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