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Pressed Chicken

Tender chicken mixed with gravy, pressed into a mold, chilled until firm.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Chicken and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 13,902 recipes. Both carry 2-furfurylthiol, which smells coffee, roasted. The science ↓

Pressed Chicken

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the chicken

  1. Cut the chicken into small pieces and place in a saucepan.

  2. Cover with cold water and cook slowly until very tender, skimming off the scum.

  3. Remove all bones and pick the meat into small pieces.

Season and set

  1. Season with salt, pepper, sweet herbs, and add butter if the chicken is not too fat.

  2. Mix with the gravy and pour into a well-buttered mold.

  3. Set in a cool place for 12 hours or until firm.

  4. Cut into slices for serving.

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. Chicken + buttertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together13,902 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).

  2. Chicken + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,958 recipes

    Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).

  3. Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

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

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 cooks down tender and sets into a firm, sliceable mass.
Gravy
Adds moisture and savour, helping the pressed meat stay juicy once chilled.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, giving the pressed chicken a smoother mouthfeel.

The step that matters

Cook slowly until very tender, skimming off the scum. Slow simmering keeps the meat tender rather than tough, and skimming removes foam that would cloud the broth and flavour the gravy-set dish poorly.

“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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