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Chicken Timbales

A molded dish of veal and chicken in a creamy breadcrumb mixture.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Chicken Timbales

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the filling

  1. Chop and pound the veal to a paste.

  2. Heat the cream in a saucepan until it boils.

  3. Add the bread crumbs to the boiling cream and rub smooth.

  4. Stir in the butter, salt, and white pepper.

  5. Add the pounded veal and beaten egg whites to the mixture.

  6. Let the mixture cool.

Make the chicken mixture

  1. Cook the butter and flour together to make a sauce.

  2. Add the milk to the sauce.

  3. Stir in the diced chicken.

  4. Pour the chicken mixture onto a platter.

Assemble and bake

  1. Grease a 3‑pint mold or 12 baking cups with butter.

  2. Spread the veal mixture on the bottom and sides of the molds, about ½ inch thick.

  3. For a decorative touch, line the molds with boiled macaroni before adding the veal mixture.

  4. Fill the molds with the chicken mixture.

  5. Cover the filled molds with the remaining veal mixture, ensuring no cracks remain.

  6. Cover the molds and steam or bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 30 to 45 minutes.

  7. Turn the filled molds out onto a platter and serve hot.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

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. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Cream + saucetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,787 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  4. Veal + chickentop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,243 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-butanedione (buttery, creamy).

  5. Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Veal
Forms a smooth, fine paste that gives the timbale its firm, sliceable body.
Cream
Adds moisture and richness, keeping the mixture tender as it sets.
Bread crumbs
Absorb liquid and help bind the mixture into a cohesive structure.
Egg whites
Coagulate when heated, setting the veal mixture into a firm custard-like structure.
Chicken
Provides the main filling flavor and substance inside the timbale.
Flour
Thickens the butter and milk sauce so it holds together with the chicken.

The step that matters

Cover the molds and steam or bake gently. Egg whites set through heat, so an oven or steam that runs too hot can make the timbale rubbery or cause cracks. Gentle, even heat lets the veal and egg whites set evenly and hold together when turned out.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, cream, bread, butter, egg, chicken, sauce):

  1. Capersfits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Tarragonfits better
  4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, cream, bread, butter, egg, chicken, sauce. 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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