How to Cook With Wine

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posted on 13 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

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Cooking with wine brings additional flavor to the food you are preparing. When the wine is heated, the alcohol and the sulfates found in wine are cooked off, leaving only an aroma and light taste. You can cook with all types of wine, regardless of the variety or price range. Most people save their most expensive bottles of wine strictly for drinking, and cook with their table wines. Use wine in cooking as a marinade, an alternative cooking liquid or as a flavor to food when the dish is ready to be served.

Steps

Cook with a wine you would drink. Do not use a wine to cook if you would never drink it in a glass or serve it with food. Start with a basic red or white wine. An example of a good white to cook with is Sauvignon Blanc. Try Chianti or Cabernet Sauvignon for a red. Avoid using wines that are labeled "cooking wines." These wines contain a lot of salt and other additives and you would never drink them in a glass.

Pay attention to the quantity of wine you use. Think of it as similar to a seasoning. Too little wine will be lost, and too much will be overpowering. Start with small amounts, and add gradually. Remember that you can always add more wine, but you cannot take back what you have already put in.

Substitute wine for water in any recipe. Wine will provide the moisture that the water would have helped with, and add a nice flavor to what you are cooking.

Marinate foods in wine before you cook them. Wine that is room temperature can tenderize meats. You can also marinate vegetables in wine before you grill, roast, sauté or bake them.

Add red wine to gravy for extra flavor. Stir in 1 or 2 tablespoon (14.8 or 29.6 ml). at a time until you reach the flavor you desire.

Sauté food in wine mixed with oil. This will work for meat and vegetables. Heat the wine before you add the food but do not let the wine boil or it will lose flavor.

Add sweet wine or dessert wine to baked items or desserts. Use sherry in recipes for baked goods, or splash some wine over ice cream or cheesecake.

Baste meat and poultry that you are roasting with wine. You can mix the wine with oil or melted butter as well as a stock, or use it on its own.

Reduce wine slowly over low heat, for best flavor results. It can make a nice sauce if you reduce it over time. Warm wine before you add food to a pan as well. Heating the wine before you cook food in it will provide more moisture to the food and prepare the pan or pot for cooking.