FROM WALTER RAINES, FOUNDING MEMBER OF THE DANCE THEATRE OF HARLEM COMPANY
ORIGINAL RECIPE BY GEORGE BALANCHINE
Walter Raines was a founding member of the Dance Theatre of Harlem company, also he danced for the Pennsylvania and Stuttgart Ballets, and distinguished himself as a teacher of ballet at the Ailey School, and finally as director of the Dance Theatre of Harlem School. He told me this recipe one day around 1991 while we were waiting for the bus. What prompted him to share it I cannot remember. This recipe is so simple (and delicious) one could prepare it on a hotplate in a dressing room or hotel room…if you had to.
SERVES:
4
PREP TIME:
15 MIN
TOTAL TIME:
40 MIN
INGREDIENTS
1 tbs olive oil
2 chicken breasts, cut in half
1/3 cup dry vermouth
1 tsp. instant chicken bouillon or powdered chicken stock
½ tsp rosemary
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
1 cup sour cream
Heat butter and olive oil in a heavy skillet with a lid; sauté chicken breasts until lightly browned on all sides. While chicken breasts are browning, pour 2 tbs of vermouth over them. Remove chicken. Put the skillet on low heat and add remainder of the vermouth. As the liquid is heating scrape up all of the chicken skin from the pan. Stir in sour cream until it is blended with the liquid, add powdered chicken bouillon, sprinkle in rosemary, salt, and pepper. Cook over low heat until sauce slightly thickens. Return chicken to the skillet. Cover and simmer 15 - 20 minutes or until chicken is tender.
“Walter said to serve it with a salad, ‘and there, you have it.’ I would also serve it with boiled noodles or a bed of wild rice.”
