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Two Beef Kidneys, Forced

Two beef kidneys stuffed with forced meat, braised, shredded, and served with sauce ravigot and garnish.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Beef and meat are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,533 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓

Two Beef Kidneys, Forced

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the kidneys

  1. Make an incision in each kidney and scoop out a little of the meat.

  2. Fill the cavity with forced meat.

  3. Braise both kidneys for two hours.

  4. Finely shred the kidney that is not filled.

Plate and serve

  1. In a stewpan, heat the sauce ravigot.

  2. Place the shredded kidney on a dish.

  3. Place the braised kidney in the middle.

  4. Garnish with paste or croutons.

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 + meattop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,533 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  2. Meat + saucetop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,167 recipes
  3. Beef + saucetop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,650 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef kidneys
Form the main body of the dish, becoming tender through slow braising.
Forced meat
Fills the cavity, adding richness and moisture to the stuffed kidney.
Sauce ravigot
Adds moisture and a sharp, acidic contrast to the rich kidney.

The step that matters

Braise both kidneys for two hours. Kidney is a tough, lean muscle, and long gentle braising in liquid breaks down its connective tissue so it becomes tender. Too short a braise leaves it chewy, while a boil at high heat toughens the meat.

“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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