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Beefsteak Rolls

Beefsteak rolls are seasoned steak rolled with butter, baked, and served with gravy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
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Why it works: Turkey and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,592 recipes. Both carry trans-2-decenal, which smells waxy, orange. The science ↓

Beefsteak Rolls

Oven, in the book's wordsA brisk oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a brisk oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the steak

  1. Pound the round steak gently.

  2. Spread your chosen dressing over the steak.

  3. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and small bits of butter.

  4. Roll the steak tightly and tie it securely.

Bake

  1. Spread 2 tablespoons of butter over the rolled steak.

  2. Wash the steak with a beaten egg.

  3. Place water in a baking pan.

  4. Lay the steak in the pan without touching the water.

  5. Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for about 30 minutes, basting often.

Serve

  1. Make a brown gravy.

  2. Serve hot.

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. Turkey + buttertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,592 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  2. Turkey + peppertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,636 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  3. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  4. Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  5. Turkey + eggtop 31% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together846 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Round steak
Forms the main body of the roll and becomes tender and sliceable when baked.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture, and helps the outside brown in the oven.
Egg
Beaten egg washed over the surface helps the exterior set and brown.
Dressing
Fills the rolled steak, adding flavour and moisture to the interior.

The step that matters

Lay the steak in the pan without touching the water. Keeping the steak out of the water lets its surface brown in the dry oven heat, while the water in the pan creates steam that keeps the roll from drying out.

“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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