Why it works: Mushroom and hazelnut work together. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and 36 recipes mention both. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
The recipe
Serves 2Ingredients
Contains: milk, tree nuts (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Put the dried mushrooms in a small bowl, cover with boiling water and leave to soak for 20 minutes. Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Drain the mushrooms, reserving the soaking liquid, and chop them finely.
Heat half the olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Fry the fresh wild mushrooms, chopped liver and sausage meat for 6 to 8 minutes until cooked through, then stir in the hazelnuts, thyme, parsley, salt and pepper. Cool.
Open out each chicken leg, bone it, and season the inside. Spoon in the stuffing, roll the leg up tightly and secure it with cocktail sticks or string.
Heat the remaining olive oil in an ovenproof pan over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken on all sides, then roast for 20 to 25 minutes until the thickest part reaches 165°F (74°C).
For the sauce, put the red wine, port, bay leaf, thyme sprig, reserved mushroom liquid, chopped soaked mushrooms and stock in a pan. Simmer for 15 minutes until reduced by about half, then season and whisk in the butter.
For the pan haggerty, thinly slice the potatoes and onion. Butter an ovenproof pan, layer the potato and onion with cheddar, salt and pepper, and cook on the hob for 10 minutes, then bake at 400°F (200°C) for 25 minutes until golden.
For the caramelised turnip, cut the turnip into thin slices. Melt the butter in a frying pan, add the sugar and turnip, and cook over medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes, turning until golden and tender. Season.
Remove the kale stalks and shred the leaves. Cook in a pan of boiling water for 2 minutes, drain, then toss in the remaining butter with salt and pepper.
Rest the chicken for 5 minutes, remove the cocktail sticks or string, and slice. Serve with the pan haggerty, turnip, kale and warm sauce.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
-
Mushroom + hazelnuttop 13% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together36 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
-
Thyme + parsleytop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together9,057 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
-
Chicken + porktop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together5,375 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
-
Mushroom + chickentop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together4,171 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-butyl acetate (fruity, banana).
-
Turnip + kaletop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together38 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, mushroom, thyme, hazelnut, chicken, liver, pork):
- Garlicbetter flavor fit
- Rosemarybetter flavor fit
- Sagebetter flavor fit
- Parsleythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against olive, mushroom, thyme, hazelnut, chicken, liver, pork. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
The Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.