Why it works: Parsley and marjoram match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,979 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓
Smothered Chicken
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the chicken
Split the chicken as for broiling and wipe it dry with a cloth.
Spread butter liberally all over the chicken, then dust with flour and pepper.
Place the chicken skin side down on a meat rack in a dripping pan.
Bake and brown
Pour in 1 cup of boiling water and add a few sprigs of parsley.
Cover closely and bake at 400°F (200°C) for 30 minutes, or longer if necessary.
Turn the chicken skin side up and brown uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes.
Make the gravy
Cook the giblets in 1 cup of water until tender, then cut them up.
In a bowl, mix the giblets with 1 tablespoon of flour and a lump of butter the size of a hen's egg.
Add the giblet water to the mixture, stir it into the dripping pan, and cook.
Season with salt, pepper, parsley, or sweet marjoram.
Serve
Joint the chicken for easy carving but do not separate it.
Serve on a platter with the gravy poured around.
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.
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Parsley + marjoramtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,979 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Pepper + marjoramtop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,609 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Flour + marjoramtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,265 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Chicken
- Provides the meat that is cooked gently in steam and then browned.
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture, and helps the skin brown during cooking.
- Flour
- Thickens the giblet mixture so the pan liquid becomes a smooth gravy.
- Giblets
- Add concentrated meaty flavor to the gravy through their cooking water.
The step that matters
Browning the chicken uncovered. Covered baking traps steam and keeps the skin pale, so turning it skin side up and browning uncovered is what gives color and crisp, savory surface flavor through dry heat.
Swap the marjoram
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, butter, flour, pepper, parsley):
- Thymefits about as well
- Marjoramthe original
- Tarragonfits about as well
- Capersfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, butter, flour, pepper, parsley. 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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