Name: Chicken À LA Bonne Femme
Ingredients: 3 chicken breasts, split in half (about 2-1/2 pounds); 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper; 2 tablespoons butter or margarine; 1/2 cup chopped onion; 1 4-ounce can sliced mushrooms (drain; reserve liquid); 2 cloves garlic, minced; 3 tablespoons flour; 1/4 cup tomato paste; 1 1/2 cups chicken broth; 1/2 cup dry white wine; 1/2 cup brandy; 1/2 cup sour cream; 3 cups hot cooked rice; Chopped fresh parsley for garnish (optional)

Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓

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.

Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Chicken + mushroomtop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,172 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-butyl acetate (fruity, banana).
Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together17,451 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Mushroom + garlictop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,700 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Butter + mushroomtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,525 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Chicken breasts: Provide the main protein, which turns tender and juicy during the covered simmer.
Butter: Carries the browning of the chicken and adds richness to the pan.
Flour: Thickens the pan juices and wine into a smooth, cohesive sauce.
Tomato paste: Adds concentrated savoury depth and colour to the sauce.
Sour cream: Adds tang and a creamy body to the finished sauce.
Dry white wine: Adds acidity and aroma, helping lift the flavours of the sauce.

The step that matters

Cook the chicken until golden brown. Browning creates flavour through the Maillard reaction, which builds the base of the sauce. Pale chicken yields a flatter taste. Pat the pieces dry so they brown rather than steam.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, pepper, butter, onion, mushroom, garlic, flour):

Thymefits better
Parsleyfits better
Turmericfits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, pepper, butter, onion, mushroom, garlic, flour. 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Mushrooms	1/2 cup sliced (35g)	15
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Brandy	not in our table	0

Chicken À LA Bonne Femme