Name: Coq Au Vin
Ingredients: 2 each boneless chicken breast, hav; 4 tsp low fat margarine; 1/8 tsp garlic powder; 1/8 tsp dried leaf thyme; 1/8 tsp lemon pepper; 1/2 tsp minced chives; 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley; 1 tbsp all purpose flour; 4 oz mushrooms, sliced; 4 oz pearl onions; 1/4 cup white wine

Why it works: Thyme and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. 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.

Thyme + parsleytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,057 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Lemon + parsleytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,037 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Thyme + lemontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,973 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Garlic + chivetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,149 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together34,122 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

Boneless chicken breast: Provides the main protein, which turns firm and opaque as it cooks through.
All purpose flour: Coats the chicken so it browns well and helps thicken the pan juices.
White wine: Adds acidity and flavor, and loosens the browned bits from the skillet into the sauce.
Mushrooms: Add earthy flavor and moisture, and brown into savory, golden pieces.
Pearl onions: Add sweetness as they caramelize in the fat until golden.

The step that matters

Browning the chicken in the skillet. Searing the floured chicken over medium heat builds browning through the Maillard reaction, which creates the flavor base for the sauce. Pale, crowded chicken steams instead and tastes flat.

Swap the chive

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, garlic, thyme, lemon, pepper, parsley, flour):

Shallotfits better
Okrafits better
Kalefits about as well
Chivethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, garlic, thyme, lemon, pepper, parsley, 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
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Mushroom	1/2 cup sliced (35g)	15
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Chives	1 tbsp (3g)	1
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Leaf	not in our table	0

Coq Au Vin

Coq Au Vin

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Brown and build the sauce

Bake

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)