Cooking with Wine - a Few Tips and Techniques

Only cook with a wine that is good enough to drink while you are cooking it.

Leftover wine may be frozen in ice cube trays then removed to a plastic container and stored in the freezer until you need it. It does not freeze hard, in fact, I often just place the wine cubes still in the tray, inside a large freezer bag.

Add Wine to your Favorite Recipes

If you want to feature the specific flavors and characteristics of a wine, then cook it for only a short amount of time so as not to alter those flavors too much.

The longer you cook wine and the further down that you reduce it, the more the alcohol and water in the wine evaporates. As the wine cooks, the flavors begin to concentrate and the longer the wine cooks the more intense those flavors will be.

Fruity wines have a complex, fruity flavor when cooked down. Wines with a sweet edge become deeper and even sweeter.

Deglazing with Wine

Deglazing is one of the easiest and most common ways to incorporate wine into your cooking.
To deglaze, simply add a small amount of wine to a hot pan where meat or poultry has just been cooked, scraping the pan with a wooden spoon to release any bits of cooked on food. When the wine reaches the proper consistency, usually somewhat thick and syrupy, the reduction is sometimes balanced out with a small amount of butter and fresh seasoning. It can then be drizzled back over the meat or poultry you have just cooked.

Wine Sauces

Wine sauces are made using the same basic concept of reduction and generally require larger quantities of wine to begin with. For these sauces the wine is started out in a clean pot and often combined with other flavorings such as shallots, fresh herbs, peppercorns, and fruit to name a few.

So that the alcohol and water evaporate and the true flavors of the wine are concentrated as it reduces, the sauce is slowly simmered over medium to low heat. Sometimes stock or demi-glace is added to give the sauce more depth. Wine reduction sauces are strained once they have been reduced to the proper consistency and then are usually finished with butter.


Grilled Sirloins with Mushroom-Wine Sauce
4 to 6 center cut top sirloin steaks
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon pepper

Mushroom-Wine Sauce:
8 ounce fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 tablespoon flour
1-1/2 tablespoon tomato paste
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 cup dry red wine or Madeira
1/4 cup beef stock or broth

To prepare wine sauce, sauté mushrooms, garlic and onion in melted butter or margarine in saucepan until mushrooms are tender. Add flour, stirring until blended, cook over medium heat for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Blend in tomato paste, salt and pepper, stir in wine and stock until well-blended. Simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Adjust seasoning if necessary.

Sprinkle steaks with lemon pepper. Grill steaks over moderately hot coals for 5 to 8 minutes per side for medium rare, or to your desired degree of doneness. Serve with Mushroom-Wine Sauce.

Braising with Wine
Braising meat and poultry in wine is another classic technique. Traditional dishes such as coq au vin and beef bourguignon both feature wine as the cooking liquid. A good quality wine is required when making both of these dishes to ensure that the flavors of the wine and the meat are at their best.

Marinating with Wine

Wine can be used in cooking as a marinade. The wine is combined with herbs, spices, and other flavorings and poured over raw meat or poultry. By allowing the meat to marinate for hours, and up to overnight, it becomes nicely infused with flavor and even somewhat tenderized by the wine. Once marinated, the meat can be cooked in whichever way you prefer and is often cooked right in the marinade itself.

NOTE – Marinade that has been used either needs to be heated or pitched. Do not put it on the table for additional basting as the bacteria from the raw meat remains in the marinade. This is especially true with chicken.

Red Wine Marinade

The red wine in this recipe delicately flavors food without overpowering. As the aroma of wine mixes with lemon and thyme you'll smell what elegant simplicity is all about. This marinade does an excellent job on vegetables as well as beef or lamb and is well-suited for shish kabobs. Skewered chunks of meat contribute wonderful juices to the fires, producing a curling smoke which embraces the tomatoes, onions and peppers

1 cup dry red wine
1/4 cup oil
Juice from one lemon
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. Dry powdered thyme
1-1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. fresh pepper.

Combine the wine, oil, lemon, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper in a non-reactive or glass bowl or jar and whisk or shake it all up. Then place in a large freezer bag with meat and vegetables (but in separate bags) until you are ready to assemble your shish kabobs. Grill over medium hot heat until done,

Cooking with Dessert (Fortified) Wine

Fortified Wines – known in the US as Dessert Wines

A fortified wine is simply one to which a distilled beverage (usually grape brandy) has been added. The original reason for fortifying wine was to preserve it. Alcohol is a natural preservative, and when added before the fermentation of wine is complete, it kills the yeast and leaves behind residual sugar. The end result is a wine that is both sweeter and stronger, normally containing about 20% alcohol by volume -(ABV). Even though other preservation methods exist, fortification continues to be used because wine drinkers took a liking to this kind of wine.

Many different styles of fortified wine have been developed. The most popular ones are port, sherry, madeira, marsala, and vermouth.

Fortified wine is distinguished from spirits made from wine. Spirits are produced by means of distillation, while fortified wine is simply wine that has had a spirit added to it.

Fortified wines such as Port, Marsala, Madeira, Vermouth and Sherry are different styles of fortified wine. They have an intense, sweet flavor and a high alcohol content and a little goes a long way. (Chicken or Veal Marsala is a classic dish made with fortified wine.)

Fortified wine is used as a base for some alcoholic beverages, such as cream liqueurs.

Port Wine Cranberry Sauce

Makes about 2 cups

1 12 ounce package fresh cranberries
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup tawny port wine
2 teaspoons grated orange peel
In a small saucepan, stir together all ingredients except orange peel. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered for 30 minutes or until cranberries are popping and soft and the mixture is slightly thickened. Stir in orange peel.

Beef Taco Salad

Serves 4-6

1 head iceberg lettuce, shredded (yes, there is still a “place” for iceberg)
3-4 tomatoes depending on size, cut into wedges or diced
1 pound LEAN ground beef
1 ounce taco seasoning or your own mixture of spices to achieve the taste
1 cup Cheddar cheese, grated
1 One pound can of kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup black olives, chopped
1 avocado, sliced (or guacamole, or both)
Salsa or Italian Dressing
Sour cream
1 Bag crushed Doritos

Brown ground beef in a large skillet adding taco seasoning and water

When meat is no longer pink, drain and rinse beans and combine with meat
In a large salad bowl or on individual plates, build salad in this order:
1. lettuce
2. cheese
3. meat
4. tomatoes
5. avocado
6. black olives
Top with scoop of sour cream and guacamole
Garnish with chips around the salad
Serve salsa, guacamole and Italian Dressing on-the-side
OLE’!

Spinach & Strawberry Salad

Serves 8.

One 9 ounce package of baby spinach leaves (no stems)
1 1/2 cups of strawberries, sliced
1/3 cup almonds, toasted
3-4 green onions, sliced
Olive oil
White Balsamic vinegar
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper

Toast the almonds on a pan in the oven at 300 degrees F for a few minutes (they brown quickly) or place the almonds in a small skillet over medium heat until toasted (shake the skillet a few times while over the heat to toast evenly)

Make sure to remove any stems from the spinach and place the leaves in a salad bowl with the green onions

Drizzle with a little olive oil (just enough to lightly coat the spinach)

Place the bowl in the refrigerator until serving time

To serve:
Rinse the strawberries just before tossing the salad, dry them and slice them

Add the toasted almonds and sliced strawberries to the salad bowl and sprinkle with white balsamic vinaigrette to taste

Add a little salt and fresh ground pepper and toss the salad and then plate

Refreshing Grape Salad

Serves 10 – 12

2 pounds red seedless grapes
2 pounds green seedless grapes
8 ounces cream cheese
8 ounces sour cream
½ cup sugar

Clean, rinse and pat dry the grapes and place in a large bowl

Mix together in another bowl the cream cheese, sour cream and sugar
Stir the mixture into the grapes
Pour into a 9 X 12 inch glass dish

Ingredients For Topping
¾ cup brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans

In another bowl, mix the brown sugar and chopped pecans together
Sprinkle the topping over the grape mixture and pat lightly (do not mix into the salad)

Restaurant Style Cole Slaw

Serves 4.

This cole slaw dressing will last 3 weeks in the refrigerator if you wish to make a larger amount.

1 package of prepared slaw mix from the grocery store

Cole Slaw Dressing Recipe

2/3 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons sugar

2/3 teaspoons salt

2/3 teaspoons celery seed

2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons white vinegar

3/4 teaspoons mustard (or to taste)

Dash of white pepper

Add any other vegetables you like to the slaw mix

Combine all dressing ingredients and mix well

Add only enough dressing to slaw mix to moisten well

Refrigerate

Adjust additional dressing to your taste as some prefer light dressing and others favor heavier dressing

Note: I recommend you add the dressing to your slaw mix just before serving to avoid the slaw becoming soggy.