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Stuffed Tenderloin

A beef tenderloin stuffed with seasoned breadcrumbs, parsley, and butter, baked and served with gravy and jelly.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Stuffed Tenderloin

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

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

Prepare

  1. Trim and wipe the tenderloins.

  2. Cut each tenderloin lengthwise to about ¾ inch thick.

  3. Sprinkle the tenderloins with salt and cayenne pepper.

  4. Spread one tenderloin with the dressing.

  5. Place the other tenderloin over the first.

  6. Tie the tenderloins securely or sew along the edges.

Bake and serve

  1. Place the stuffed tenderloins in a baking pan with a little drippings.

  2. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 45 to 60 minutes, basting every 10 minutes with 1 tablespoon drippings mixed with ¼ cup boiling water.

  3. Serve with brown gravy and red currant jelly.

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. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

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

  3. Parsley + buttertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together28,563 recipes

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

  4. Bread + parsleytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,588 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Bread + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,964 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 tenderloins
The main cut of meat, sliced open and rolled around the stuffing before roasting.
Stale bread crumbs
Soak up juices and bind the stuffing, giving it a soft, moist body.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and helps the stuffing and surface brown gently.
Parsley
Adds fresh, herbal aroma and a bright green colour to the stuffing.

The step that matters

Tie the tenderloins securely or sew along the edges.. If the rolled meat opens in the oven, the stuffing can fall out and the meat cooks unevenly. Firm binding keeps the layers together so the roast holds its shape and heats evenly.

Swap the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, pepper, butter):

  1. Parsleythe original
  2. Sagefits about as well
  3. Thymefits less well
  4. Nutmegfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against bread, pepper, butter. 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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