Why it works: Milk and chicken are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,389 recipes. Both carry 1-hexanal, which smells fruit. The science ↓
Chicken Pot Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
In a bowl, mix the flour, salt, and baking powder.
Add the melted shortening, beaten egg, and milk; stir until combined.
Assemble and bake
Pour the stewed chicken with thickened gravy into a dripping pan.
Drop in the dumplings.
Bake for about 30 minutes, or until well browned.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Milk + chickentop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,389 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-hexanal (fruit).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Flour + chickentop 27% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together10,559 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the dumplings as it sets around the gravy.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, helping the dumplings rise and turn light.
- Egg
- Binds the dough and adds richness and structure to the dumplings.
- Shortening
- Adds fat that tenderizes the dumplings and helps them brown.
- Milk
- Hydrates the flour and gives the dumplings moisture and softness.
The step that matters
Dropping in the dumplings. The batter must rest on top of the hot gravy rather than sink into it. Baking powder needs oven heat to release gas, so the dumplings should go in promptly and bake undisturbed to rise and set.
“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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