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Lenox Chicken

A gelatin-set chicken dish with celery, cream, mustard, and lemon, molded and chilled.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Fannie Merritt Farmer · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 18 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,047 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓

Lenox Chicken

Ingredients

Directions

Make the chicken layer

  1. Dissolve one tablespoon gelatin in chicken stock and strain.

  2. When mixture begins to thicken, beat until frothy.

  3. Add three-fourths cup heavy cream, beaten until stiff, and chicken dice.

  4. Season with salt and pepper.

  5. Turn into individual moulds and chill.

Make the sauce

  1. Soak remaining gelatin in cold water.

  2. Dissolve by standing over hot water, then strain.

  3. Beat yolks of eggs slightly.

  4. Add salt, sugar, mustard, lemon juice, vinegar, and hot cream.

  5. Cook over hot water until mixture thickens.

  6. Add butter and strained gelatin.

  7. Add mixture gradually to whites of eggs beaten stiff.

  8. When cold, fold in heavy cream beaten until stiff.

  9. Fold in celery.

Serve

  1. Remove chicken from mould, surround with sauce, and garnish with celery tips.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

475Calories
39 gProtein
26 gFat
20 gCarbs

Counts 11 of 12 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 11 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Chicken100g cooked165
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
Mustard1 tsp (5g) yellow3
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0

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

By Fannie Merritt Farmer. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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. See the original page.

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. Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  2. Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  5. Mustard + lemontop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,816 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

What each ingredient does

Gelatine
Sets the stock and sauce into a firm, sliceable jelly that holds the chicken in shape.
Heavy cream
Adds richness and a light, airy texture when whipped and folded in.
Eggs
Yolks thicken the cooked sauce and whites add lightness through their whipped structure.
Cold cooked chicken
Provides the main meat and bulk suspended in the set gelatine.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the sauce and balances the richness of the cream.

The step that matters

Adding the gelatin mixture to the egg whites. The sauce must be cooled enough that the gelatin stays liquid but not hot, or the whipped whites will deflate and the mixture will lose its airy structure.

“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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