Why it works: Butter and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,456 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Beef Steak and Fried Potatoes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the potatoes
Heat the butter in a frying or sauté pan until very hot.
Peel the potatoes and cut them into long, thin slices.
Fry the potato slices in the hot butter until they are nicely browned.
Cook the steaks
Broil the steaks over a clear, bright fire, turning frequently for even cooking; broil for about 5 minutes.
Place bits of maitre d’hotel butter over the steak and put it in the oven for a moment.
Serve
Arrange the fried potatoes around the edge of the dish and serve immediately.
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 + potatotop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Fries the potatoes and carries heat, giving them a rich flavour and golden browning.
- Potatoes
- Form the starchy side dish that crisps and browns when fried in hot fat.
- Steaks
- Provide the main protein, browning on the outside under direct high heat while staying tender within.
- Maitre d’hotel butter
- Melts over the hot steak, adding moisture and herb flavour to the surface.
The step that matters
Fry the potatoes in very hot butter. If the butter is not hot enough, the potato slices absorb fat and steam instead of browning, leaving them soggy and greasy. Hot fat quickly sets the outside into a crisp, golden crust.
“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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