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Breakfast

Economical Breakfast Dish

A skillet dish of leftover meat, sliced potatoes, eggs, and cream or milk, seasoned with salt and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Potato and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,305 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Economical Breakfast Dish

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Heat drippings in a skillet.

  2. Slice the cold potatoes thinly and cut the leftover meat into small pieces.

  3. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

  4. In a bowl, beat the eggs and stir in the cream or milk.

Cook and serve

  1. Pour the egg mixture over the meat and potatoes in the skillet.

  2. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until the eggs are fully cooked.

  3. Serve immediately.

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. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Meat + potatotop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together786 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  3. Potato + creamtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,481 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  4. Meat + peppertop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together8,777 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Meat + eggtop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,432 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Set when cooked, binding the meat and potatoes into a soft, cohesive mass.
Cold potatoes
Provide starchy body and a firm, sliced texture that holds up in the skillet.
Leftover meat
Adds savory flavor and protein-rich bulk to the skillet.
Cream or milk
Adds moisture and richness, keeping the eggs tender rather than dry.
Drippings
Supply fat for frying and carry savory meaty flavor into the potatoes.

The step that matters

Cook over low heat, stirring constantly. Eggs proteins set quickly at high heat and turn rubbery or dry, while gentle heat with constant stirring forms soft, moist curds.

Swap the potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, pepper, egg, cream):

  1. Spinachfits about as well
  2. Asparagusfits about as well
  3. Capsicumfits about as well
  4. Potatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against meat, pepper, egg, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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