How to Cook With Wine

How to cook with wine:

First rule of cooking with wine is only use wine in your dishes or sauces, that you would drink. You do not want to flavor your meals with wine that you feel has an odd taste. It will ruin your meal.

Wine has three main uses in the kitchen: as a marinade ingredient, as a cooking liquid, and as a flavoring in a finished dish.  The wine should simmer with food to intensify, enhance and accent the flavor and aroma of the food. Be careful not to use too much wine, as the flavor could overpower your dish. Wine should be added to a dish just before serving, you want to serve it warm. Only use wine when it has something to contribute to the finished dish.

Some people think that if you eat a meal that has been flavored with wine that they will still be able to taste the alcohol. Food (in wine) that has been consumed immediately without cooking will have 100 percent of the alcohol used in the recipe. Food that is flamed will have 75 percent of the alcohol left, and only 25 percent of the alcohol remains in a dish that has been baked or simmered for an hour. As long as the wine has been cooked above 172 degrees (just short of boiling), most of the alcohol will evaporate off. Boiling down the wine concentrates the flavor, including acidity and sweetness.

Good Places to Put Wine in Your Food:

1. When a recipe calls for water, replace the water with a favorite wine.

2. Stir in 1 to 2 tablespoons of a full-bodied red into brown gravy. Let simmer to create rich brown gravy for red meat.

3. Mix wine with your favorite oil to baste meat and poultry.

4. For meat dishes calling for wine, first heat the wine. Do not boil the wine, this will loose the flavor.

5. Adding cold wine tends to make meat tough, while warm wine helps tenderize it.

6. Dry red wines have better chemistry with heavier red meats.

7. Serve the same wine with dinner that you cooked with, as they will balance each other. If you prefer to use a fine wine during dinner, try to stay within the same wine family.

                         Traditional formula for pairing wine with cooking:

Young, full bodied red wine	Red meat, red meat dishes
Young, full bodied, robust red wine	Red sauces
Earthy red, full bodied red wine	Soups with root vegetables and/or beef stock
Dry white wine or dry fortified wine	Fish/shellfish/seafood, poultry, pork, veal
Dry white wine or dry fortified wine	Light/cream sauces
Crisp, dry white wine	Seafood soups, bouillabaisse
Sweet white wine or sweet fortified wine	Sweet desserts
Dry, fortified wine (i.e.: sherry)	Consommé, poultry, vegetable soups
Regional cuisine	Regional wine

Leftover table wine can be refrigerated and used for cooking if held for only one or two weeks. If you have at least a half bottle on wine left over, pour it off into a clean half bottle, cork it, and store in the refrigerator. without air space at the top, the rebottled wine will keep for up to one month.