Why it works: Beef and blue cheese share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 75 recipes mention both. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓
The recipe
10 servingsIngredients
Contains: egg, milk, wheat, tree nuts (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Cut the butter and cream cheese into the flour with the 1/2 teaspoon salt until crumbly. Add the cold milk and stir until a dough forms. Wrap and chill for 15 minutes.
Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the ground beef, chopped onion and 2 teaspoons salt. Cook, breaking up the meat, until no pink remains and it reaches 160°F (71°C), about 8 minutes. Drain well.
Heat the oven to 400°F (204°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment.
Let the beef cool for 5 minutes. Stir in the beaten egg, sour cream, blue cheese, chopped black olives and chopped walnuts until evenly combined.
Roll the chilled dough on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle about 1/4 inch (6 mm) thick.
Spread the beef filling over the dough, leaving a border along the edges. Roll up from a long side like a jelly roll and pinch the seam and ends closed.
Place the roll seam-side down on the baking sheet. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown and the filling reaches 160°F (71°C) in the center.
Rest the roll for 5 minutes, then slice to serve.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Beef + blue cheesetop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together75 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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Cream cheese + blue cheesetop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together70 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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Butter + milktop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together81,222 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Beef + oniontop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together17,091 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Butter + cream cheesetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,746 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, cream cheese, flour, milk, beef, egg, cream):
- Potatobetter flavor fit
- Chiveabout as good a flavor fit
- Asparagusabout as good a flavor fit
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, cream cheese, flour, milk, beef, egg, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
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