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Chicken, Timbales of

A baked dish of macaroni rings filled with chicken puree and topped with Bechamel sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Chicken, Timbales of

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the macaroni

  1. Boil the macaroni in salted water until tender.

  2. Cut the macaroni into rings about ½ inch thick.

  3. Line several well-buttered timbale molds with the macaroni rings.

  4. Use a larding needle to fix the rings in position if needed.

Fill and steam

  1. Prepare the chicken puree as directed for 'Chicken Souffle.'

  2. Fill the prepared molds with the chicken mixture.

  3. Steam the timbales for 25 to 35 minutes.

Serve

  1. Arrange the timbales on a hot dish, pour the Bechamel sauce around, and serve.

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. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

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

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

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together15,338 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

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

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

    Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).

Butter and sauce barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 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
Forms the main body of the timbale, giving it a soft, sliceable structure once cooked.
Egg whites
Whisked into the chicken mixture, they set on steaming and give the timbale its light, firm structure.
Egg yolk
Adds richness and helps bind the chicken puree as it sets.
Cream
Adds moisture and richness, keeping the chicken puree tender rather than dry.
Butter
Greases the molds so the timbales release cleanly, and adds richness.
Macaroni
Forms the outer shell of rings that holds the chicken mixture in shape.

The step that matters

Fill and steam. Steaming gently sets the egg-based chicken mixture; high heat or boiling can make it curdle, puff and turn rough-textured. Well-buttered molds help the timbales release cleanly.

“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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