Name: Spicy Stewed Beef with Creamy Cheddar Grits
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 3 h
Yield: 12
Ingredients: 2 Tablespoons Canola Oil; 2 Tablespoons Butter; 3 pounds Stew Meat Or Diced Chuck Roast; 1 can (11 Ounces) Chipotle Peppers In Adobo Sauce; 4 cups Low-sodium Beef Broth, More If Needed; 5 cloves Minced Garlic; 1 Tablespoon Cumin; 2 teaspoons Chili Powder; 1 whole Onion, Diced; 1 whole Red Bell Pepper; 3 whole Chilies (any Variety, Hot Or Mild); 4 cups Stone Ground Grits; 6 cups Low Sodium Chicken (or Beef) Broth; 3 cups Water; 2 cups Half-and-half; 2 cups Grated Cheddar Cheese

Why it works: Pepper and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,451 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓

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.

Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together17,451 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Pepper + garlictop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,090 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Pepper + beeftop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,971 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Clove + garlictop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,368 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Canola oil + garlictop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together979 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).

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

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (canola oil, butter, meat, pepper, sauce, beef, garlic):

Thymefits better
Parsleyfits better
Oreganofits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against canola oil, butter, meat, pepper, sauce, beef, garlic. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Beef	100g cooked	250
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Cheddar Cheese	1 oz (28g)	113
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Cumin	1 tsp ground (2.1g)	8
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Sauce	not in our table	0
Water	not in our table	0

Spicy Stewed Beef with Creamy Cheddar Grits