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Cider-Brined Grill-Roasted Chicken with Grilled Apples and Sage

Wood chips, soaked and scattered over a fire (or put in a smoker box on a gas grill), create woodsy, fragrant smoke that permeates a chicken as it cooks, flavoring every inch of the meat. Here, the chicken is placed in a cider-and-herb brine before grilling. The result is a deeply seasoned, moist and tender bird with an irresistible smokiness.

By williamssonoma · From Open Recipes · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Apple and cider match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 1,042 recipes mention both. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓

The recipe

Serves 4.

Ingredients

Contains: milk (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

By williamssonoma. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Apple + cidertop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,042 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  2. Sage + rosemarytop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together465 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1,8-cineol (eucalyptus, camphor).

  3. Sage + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together5,388 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Rosemary + peppertop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together2,324 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  5. Rosemary + chickentop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together1,075 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

Flavor stand-ins for the rosemary

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, cider, sage, chicken, canola oil, butter, pepper):

  1. Thymebetter flavor fit
  2. Rosemarythe original
  3. Gingerabout as good a flavor fit

Fit is the average pairing score against apple, cider, sage, chicken, canola oil, butter, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).