Why it works: Pepper and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 85,593 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Broiled Mutton Chops
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Choose breast chops for appearance or loin chops for flavor, trim and cut loin chops 1 inch thick.
Beat the chops with a rolling pin to tenderize.
Grill
Preheat the grill until very hot and grease it.
Place the chops on the grill and turn them after a few seconds to sear and retain juices.
Continue turning frequently, ensuring even cooking without piercing the meat.
When the meat feels firm under a fork, remove it from the grill.
Finish and serve
Spread thick butter on the chops and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
For presentation, use frilled paper on the handles of French chops and arrange them in a circle with a puree in the center.
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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Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Mutton chops
- Provide the main meat, whose firm texture sets firm when seared and cooked through.
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture to the cooked chops and carries seasoning across the surface.
The step that matters
Turning the chops frequently without piercing them. Frequent turning over very high heat sears the outside while keeping the interior even. Piercing the meat lets juices escape, leaving the chops drier and less tender.
“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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