Why it works: Potato and rice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 851 recipes. Both carry 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, which smells popcorn, roasted. The science ↓
Boiled, Baked or Broiled Beef
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the beef
Reheat the gravy and place the roast beef in it.
Trim the roast into shape.
Cover the roast.
Put the roast in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) for 10 minutes or less.
Slice the beef.
Heat the sliced beef in hot gravy.
Mix and form the patties
Mix chopped beef with potatoes, bread crumbs, or rice, adding salt and pepper.
Moisten the mixture with water or soup.
Form the mixture into cakes or balls.
Cook the patties
Heat butter or beef fat in a skillet.
Add the mixture to the skillet.
Cover the skillet.
Let it steam until heated through.
Fry the cakes or balls in hot fat until browned.
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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Potato + ricetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together851 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Beef + potatotop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,052 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
-
Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Roast beef
- Provides the main meat, which is cooked briefly and then chopped into the patty mixture.
- Chopped or mashed potatoes
- Adds body and moisture to the mixture so the patties hold together.
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb moisture and help bind the mixture into shapes that hold together.
- Boiled rice
- Adds bulk and binding to the mixture, helping the patties hold their shape.
- Butter or beef fat
- Conducts heat in the skillet and browns the outside of the patties.
The step that matters
Fry the cakes or balls in hot fat until browned. Frying in hot fat browns the surface through the Maillard reaction, which adds flavor and color. If the fat is not hot enough, the patties soak up grease and steam instead of browning.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, bread, rice, pepper, butter):
- Tomatofits about as well
- Potatothe original
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Asparagusfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, bread, rice, pepper, butter. 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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