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Classic Country Captain Chicken

A chicken stew with currants, bacon, curry powder, and rice.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 17 ingredients
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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 ↓

Classic Country Captain Chicken

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Place currants in a small bowl; add chicken broth and let stand 30 minutes until currants are plump.

  2. Cook bacon in a Dutch oven over medium heat until crisp.

  3. Remove bacon, drain on paper towel, crumble and reserve.

Brown the chicken

  1. Add chicken to pan; cook, turning, 15 minutes or until brown on all sides.

  2. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper; remove chicken to a warm platter.

Make the sauce and finish

  1. Add celery, onion, pepper and garlic to pan; cook 5 minutes, or until onion is translucent.

  2. Add tomatoes, curry powder, thyme and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt.

  3. Bring to boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 10 minutes.

  4. Return chicken to pan, cover and cook 20 minutes.

  5. Add currants and broth; continue cooking, covered, 10 minutes more or until fork can be inserted in chicken with ease.

  6. Sprinkle with parsley, crumbled bacon.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

610Calories
44 gProtein
9 gFat
88 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 15 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Rice1 cup cooked (158g) white206
Chicken100g cooked165
Grape1/2 cup (76g)62
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Bacon1 slice cooked (8g)43
Bell Pepper1 medium (119g)31
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Turmeric1 tsp ground (3g)9
Almond1 almond (1.2g)7
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Thyme1 tsp dried (1.4g)4
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  2. Garlic + tomatotop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,076 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  3. Celery + tomatotop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,377 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  5. Pepper + celerytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

What each ingredient does

Chicken
Browning gives colour and flavour, and slow covered simmering keeps the meat moist and tender.
Tomatoes
Provide liquid and acidity that build the body of the sauce.
Bacon
Its rendered fat and crisp pieces add savoury richness and flavour.
Onion
Softens and sweetens as it cooks, forming the base of the sauce.
Currants
Plump up in broth and add gentle sweetness to the sauce.
Curry powder
Blooms in the pan to add aromatic, warm spice flavour.

The step that matters

Browning the chicken. Searing the pieces over medium heat until deep brown on all sides builds flavour through the Maillard reaction. Pale, under-browned chicken gives a flat sauce.

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, pepper, celery, onion, clove, garlic, tomato):

  1. Avocadofits better
  2. Limefits better
  3. Lemonfits better
  4. Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, pepper, celery, onion, clove, garlic, tomato. 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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