Cooking with Wine

[somethingshiny]

I''d like to start cooking with wine and I''m not sure where to begin. I know that you should only use wine you should drink and that''s about it. I prefer white wines and DH prefers red wines for drinking.

Do you prefer to cook with white or red?

Do you only use recipes that call for wine or do you substitute wine for other cooking liquids?

Do you marinate with wine?

Do you prefer pasta sauces or meat sauces? (or something different)

Do your kids eat it?



Please post any links or recipes that you''d like!

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

I cook with wine a lot, both red and white (dry for both). I use it to marinate and in sauces mostly. I always use whatever I have on hand for drinking, so it''s usually a Merlot, Chardonnay or Pinot. I love to drink Riesling but I don''t usually cook with it.

I use marsala wine for chicken marsala (cutlets sauteed in a marsala wine and mushroom sauce (garlic, mushrooms, wine, chicken stock simmered together)

I use basic white for chicken picatta (cutlets sauteed in lemon, white wine, garlic, capers and chicken stock)

basic white is good for scampi (same as picatta without the capers)

Beef and lamb are really good when marinated in a full-bodied red wine. Chicken, fish and shellfish work well with really any dry white.

I use red wine in to braising liquid and for things like beef stew and pot roast

I also use red wine in spaghetti sauce, homemade and to fancy up store-bought

 

[somethingshiny]

HH~ Is their a reason you only use dry wines? Is it a flavor thing or does it actually make a difference in the way it cooks up? Does dry wine get "drier" after it cooks down??

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

No it doesn''t get drier, if anything the sugars concentrate as it reduces, so unless you''re cooking something that can take the added sugar (like spaghetti sauce) I find the dry varieties work the best.

 

[somethingshiny]

Thanks!

I''m going to make spaghetti tonight, so I think I''ll try it! How much wine do you add to the sauce (dry red)? How long do you simmer it?

 

[whitby_2773]

shiny - i love to cook with wine.

sometimes i even put it in the food....

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Are you talking about from scratch or from a jar? If it''s from a jar I just pour a healthy bit in the pot (not enough to thin it, but enough to notice the flavor) and let is simmer. From scratch I add it in and cook it down a bit before I add in the tomatoes. So sautee onions and garlic, add in wine to deglaze, add in tomatoes.

 

[somethingshiny]

whitby~ LOL! Yeah, if I wasn''t pregnant, I could totally see myself cooking like Julia Child!

HH~ From scratch, so I''ll use the wine to deglaze. Thanks!

 

[kama_s]

Date: 3/3/2010 10:53:14 AM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
Are you talking about from scratch or from a jar? If it''s from a jar I just pour a healthy bit in the pot (not enough to thin it, but enough to notice the flavor) and let is simmer. From scratch I add it in and cook it down a bit before I add in the tomatoes. So sautee onions and garlic, add in wine to deglaze, add in tomatoes.

That''s exactly what I do. I, too, mostly use dry wines and usually it''s wine I have at home to drink. Sometimes, when my recipe calls for more than 1/2 a cup of wine, I buy table french - it''s cheap and dry and I don''t mind polishing off the rest of the bottle

Most of the alcohol burns off when you cook, what you end up with is the flavour.

 

[somethingshiny]

Another question:

I won''t be drinking any time soon, but when you cook with wine, do you serve the same wine with the meal or does it matter??



Kama~ Thanks!

 

[ladypirate]

We cook with wine a lot--usually with dry wine or sometimes vermouth or Madeira. Occasionally cognac as well (for something like French onion soup or coq au vin. Sometimes I''ll throw in whatever is at hand, but if it''s something that requires a whole bottle (boeuf bourgignon or coq au vin usually) I will buy a bottle of cheap red wine just for that.

You certainly don''t have to serve the same wine with it, but I would go with something similar in terms of style (and if you''re just using a little bit, it makes sense to serve the same one.

Also as a general rule, I use white wine for seafood and red wine for meat (chicken can go either way depending on the dish). Red wine tends to make something heartier while white adds a nice crispness. Sauvignon blanc is one of our favorite whites both to drink and cook with.

I do use it for marinades (sometimes I''ll use other alcohol for marinades too--last time we did fajitas I did a lime-tequila marinade and it came out awesome), following the same general rules as above. Sometimes if I''m making salad dressing and we''re drinking a white I''ll throw a little in there too. Wine or fortified wine is also great for deglazing pans and making gravies or reduction sauces for meat.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[somethingshiny]

Thanks, lp! I''m excited to try it tonight.

 

[FrekeChild]

I would be very careful at first until you know how it cooks out. When I first cooked with wine, I would put some in whatever sauce I was making and it would be TOO wine-y. So now, unless it''s something that cooks for a long time (braise or some other cooking method) or if it only has a little bit, I''ll add the wine first until it''s almost cooked out, so it''s only the concentrated flavor instead of the full fledged wine thing going on. If that makes sense?

I made a couple of dishes in the beginning that tasted like they were doused in wine, and it was not a good thing.

 

[Maisie]

I don''t drink at all and I was worried that I would be affected by wine in food. I know I am silly! Anyway, I was told that the alcohol burns off during cooking and you are just left with the flavour. I see that Kama said this too. So it must be true

 

[Maisie]

Date: 3/3/2010 10:49:36 AM
Author: whitby_2773
shiny - i love to cook with wine.

sometimes i even put it in the food....

 

[cara]

The don''t cook with wine you wouldn''t drink isabout quality not color Mainly if the wine is too horrible for drinking, it might have bad flavors in it which would survive and contribute bad flavors to the food. If the wine is merely ''meh'' but without bad flavors or really bad balance, it is probably good enough for cooking. Certainly there is a reduction in complexity of flavor when you cook wines, but generally balanced wines will positively contribute to food and dominant flavors in wine when drunk will also make it through when the wine is used in cooking, though the character or qualities of the flavor(s) may change.

For example, HH mentions rieslings and not using them as often in cooking. Many rieslings have a lot of apple flavor, and this character may carry over into a meal made with riesling so I would be hesitant to use a riesling when a generic white was called for unless I thought it would work well in that particular dish.

I generally use wine in cooking in recipes that call for wine (hah! original, I know) and have occasionally tried shortcuts like say, using all wine instead of wine + stock and this tends not to work out so well. All wine is stronger, not as well balanced unless for some reason the recipe calls for it. Marinating with wine is good, as the acidity and alcohol help to tenderize meat, but again you can go overboard with the wine flavor so I would at least start with a marinade recipe somewhere that has other ingredients.

Red wine is generally stronger so just be careful and use it when it is appropriate. Often times white is more appropriate for cooking, though of course there are some nice places for the use of red wine in cooking.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 3/3/2010 10:08:58 AM
Author:somethingshiny
I'd like to start cooking with wine and I'm not sure where to begin. I know that you should only use wine you should drink and that's about it. I prefer white wines and DH prefers red wines for drinking.

Do you prefer to cook with white or red? I use both depending on the type of meat/ fish or recipe.

Do you only use recipes that call for wine or do you substitute wine for other cooking liquids? I do both.

Do you marinate with wine? Yes.

Do you prefer pasta sauces or meat sauces? (or something different) I use it with both, for meat dishes like casseroles and stews I tend to cook the meat in the wine sauce until done as I find this enriches the flavour. I find the longer the wine cooks in the dish the better the flavour.

Do your kids eat it?



Please post any links or recipes that you'd like!

 

[elrohwen]

Everyone gave some really great advice.

If you want a simple recipe that uses a lot of wine (as opposed to just a dash for deglazing) try something like braised short ribs. The basic recipe is to cook some onions, carrots, and celery. Brown your meat. Then put them together in a dutch oven with a whole bottle of a full-bodied red wine. Simmer for 4-ish hours. You''ll have incredibly tender beef short ribs and the wine will cook down into a great sauce. I''m sure you can easily find a recipe for this online, but the technique will be the same as what I wrote.

In most cases though, using 1/2c-1c of wine is the appropriate amount for a typical sauce recipe. It''s usually added right after cooking the onion/garlic/other veggies and allowed to cook down until it''s like a glaze - no more liquid. Then add other liquids like stock or cream.

 

[somethingshiny]

Thanks for all the advice!! I wasn''t able to try it last night. I ended up making spaghetti for my mom and dad, they wouldn''t even TOUCH it if they knew I made it "different." And, since my mom was in the kitchen the whole time, I couldn''t exactly sneak it in.

I''m looking around the house to figure out another way to use it. I have some beef that isn''t very tender. Maybe I''ll try the wine for a marinade.

 

[honey22]

Shiny your post made me giggle! I want to cook with wine..... It''s almost like, to hell with the food as long as the wine makes it in!!

You are my kind of cook

 

[somethingshiny]

lol! You''re right. I don''t care what I''m making as long as I get to use the wine!! It''s like I''m obsessed with being able to do it!

 

[April20]

Date: 3/3/2010 10:49:36 AM
Author: whitby_2773
shiny - i love to cook with wine.

sometimes i even put it in the food....

Ha ha! Me too!

I put red wine in marinades and pasta sauces. Hearty dishes. I put white wine in sauces, sometimes in soups. Creamier things really.

I cook with vodka too. (yeah, yeah, I know this is about wine). I took a jar of regular ole prego on Monday, added a little bechemel I already had made and a slosh of vodka and next thing you know, I had a super quick vodka tomato sauce. Much milder for the lasagna I was making, which had bold flavors and needed a mild sauce.

 

[havernell]

Ooooh, I just learned a trick about cooking with wine (or, more correctly- how to keep left over wine to use later on in cooking). If you ever have any wine left over in a bottle at the end of a night, pour the wine into an ice cube tray and freeze the wine. Once frozen, pop out the wine-cubes and store them in a ziplock bag in the freezer. Then, when a recipe calls for wine, just pull out some of the cubes, melt them and voila!

In answer to your original questions, I use red wine most often in dishes like french onion soup and beef stew and white wine in cream based pasta sauces and chicken dishes. Also, rice wine in stir fry (although, that''s not technically a wine).

Here''s one recipe I make that uses white wine. I generally also add some kind of veggie to the dish like asparagus (cut into bite-sized pieces) or peas, but it''s good without as well.

Penne in Cream Sauce with Italian Sausage

1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
2/3 cup dry white wine
1 14 1/2-ounce can diced peeled tomatoes with juices
1 cup whipping cream
6 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley
1 pound penne pasta
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Melt butter with oil in heavy skillet over medium-high heat.
Add onion and garlic and sauté until golden brown and tender about 7 minutes.
Add sausage and sauté until golden brown and cooked through (breaking up with back
of spoon or fork) about 7 minutes.
Drain any excess drippings from skillet.
Add wine to skillet and boil until almost all liquid evaporates, about 2 minutes.
Add tomatoes with juices and simmer 3 minutes.
Add whipping cream and simmer until sauce thickens slightly, about 5 minutes.
Stir in 4 tablespoons parsley.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Remove from heat.

Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until tender, but still a bit firm.
Drain pasta.
Transfer to large bowl.

Bring sauce to simmer.
Pour sauce over pasta.
Add 3/4 cup cheese and toss to coat all pasta.
Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cheese and 2 tablespoons on top just before serving.

(Sauce can be prepared one day ahead, just cover and refrigerate.)

 

[Mrs Mitchell]

Date: 3/3/2010 10:33:27 AM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
No it doesn''t get drier, if anything the sugars concentrate as it reduces, so unless you''re cooking something that can take the added sugar (like spaghetti sauce) I find the dry varieties work the best.

HH, just a thought, but for some very rich dishes, I have found that a medium dry white can add a depth of flavour and roundness that can be quite amazing. Fish dishes in particular, with rich sauces or cheese sauces. Not stuff I cook regularly, but when I do, I like to use a bone-dry muscadet and a small slug of a sweeter white to ''lift'' the flavour a little.

 

[somethingshiny]

havernell~ What is this "leftover wine" you speak of?? I''ve never heard of it.

Thanks for the recipe!


I made alfredo last night and was trying to figure a way to add the wine to it, but I just wasn''t confident.

 

[havernell]

Date: 3/5/2010 1:21:50 PM
Author: somethingshiny
havernell~ What is this 'leftover wine' you speak of?? I've never heard of it.

Hehe! Yeah, we don't have leftover wine often, but some nights when it's just my husband and I, we'll open a bottle to have some wine with dinner but don't want to drink too much because we need to write afterwards (we're grad students so we often work at night). Anyway, I used to feel bad about pouring the leftover wine down the drain, so when I found this freeze-for-cooking idea I was all about it.

You're welcome for the recipe. It's not anything super fancy, but it's a good "starter" recipe if you haven't cooked with wine much in the past. If you find any good recipes you'll have to share them as well!

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Date: 3/5/2010 12:05:45 PM
Author: Mrs Mitchell

Date: 3/3/2010 10:33:27 AM

Author: Hudson_Hawk

No it doesn''t get drier, if anything the sugars concentrate as it reduces, so unless you''re cooking something that can take the added sugar (like spaghetti sauce) I find the dry varieties work the best.

HH, just a thought, but for some very rich dishes, I have found that a medium dry white can add a depth of flavour and roundness that can be quite amazing. Fish dishes in particular, with rich sauces or cheese sauces. Not stuff I cook regularly, but when I do, I like to use a bone-dry muscadet and a small slug of a sweeter white to ''lift'' the flavour a little.

Oh, thank you Jen!