Why it works: Beef and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,971 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
To Roast Sirloin or Ribs of Beef
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).
Season the beef generously with coarse sea salt and black pepper.
Place the beef in a roasting pan and rub it with butter.
Roast and rest
Roast in the oven for about 20 minutes per pound for medium-rare.
Let the beef rest for 10 minutes before carving.
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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Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beef + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,847 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
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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
- Beef
- Provides the main body of the dish and, as it cooks, the texture and flavor of the meat.
- Butter
- Adds fat and moisture to the beef surface, helping it brown and taste rich.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the meat and helps draw out surface moisture for better browning.
The step that matters
Roast in the oven for about 20 minutes per pound for medium-rare.. Meat keeps cooking after it leaves the oven, and the internal temperature determines doneness. Cooking by time alone can overshoot, so checking the internal temperature helps avoid overcooked, grey 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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