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French Broiled Chicken

A whole chicken is split, salted, and slow‑cooked in lard and butter until tender.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 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 ↓

French Broiled Chicken

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Wash and split the chicken down the back.

  2. Salt the chicken well.

Cook

  1. In a skillet, heat ½ cup lard and ½ cup butter until hot.

  2. Place the chicken in the skillet, open side down.

  3. Cover with a lid that fits closely and weigh it down.

  4. Turn the chicken occasionally and cook slowly for about 40 minutes until done.

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).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Chicken
Forms the main protein; splitting it flattens it so it cooks evenly in the pan.
Lard
Conducts steady heat and adds fat that promotes browning and crisp skin.
Butter
Adds fat and milk solids that brown and contribute a rich, nutty flavor.

The step that matters

Cook slowly with the lid weighted down. Low, steady heat lets the thick meat cook through without the skin burning, while the weighted lid keeps the chicken pressed against the hot fat for even browning.

“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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