Another Wine Blog - Latest Comments in Cooking with wine

Re: Cooking with wine

Houstonwino — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 19:20:38 -0000

That should be a very good pairing. Don't sweat the cooking wine. I would suggest using a Chilean Cab for the braising wine. Decent ones can sometimes be had for under 10 bucks. The old adage about only cooking with wine that you would drink is nonsense anyway, so go even cheaper if you'd like. When cooking with wine, particularly using techniques like braising, using a somewhat similar taste profile to what you will be drinking, provided it had no off flavors or flaws, is just about the only thing you have to worry about. Never cook with any wine you couldn't drink if absolutely had to makes more sense. Let some other fool sacrifice their Swanson to the cooking pot. I'd rather drink it. Good luck with the ribs! I'm coming some up tomorrow myself (and probably using whatever is open on the counter as the braising liquid). Cheers!

Re: Cooking with wine

Tracy — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 15:23:57 -0000

Our neighborhood is doing a wine tasting party and I have the main entree to cook. I have to pair my dish with a Swanson Vineyard '06 Merlot. I picked braised beef short ribs, but I am now worried that most of the recipes call for a red wine in the braising. Can I use a different red wine? Will the cooking wine compete with the wine that we are taste testing? I don't want to ruin the overall experience by picking the wrong wine or entree!

Re: Cooking with wine

Joe Power — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 08:31:26 -0000

I was kidding, Papa. ;)

While it is rare that a good bottle ever has anything left in it at my house, the same things you describe happen here, as well. While I've never been able to develop much of a taste for mulled wine, around the holidays there are few things that can make a house smell as festive as a pan of it warming on the stove.

Re: Cooking with wine

Papa Lou — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 18:26:20 -0000

Unfinished meaning stuff I opened but didn't like enough to make a priority out of drinking. Or that second or third bottle that got opened over a dinner with friends and ended up forgotten in a corner of the fridge after we cleared the table.

Those of us in cold-weather climes are also big on mulling leftover/not-that-great red wines in winter time, too. (I believe the term for this stuff is Glogg, with an umlaut over the "o"). Round mulling spice baskets are available at your local kitchen-supply store for $4 (the mesh is similar to a flour sifter). Load 'em up with a few broken-up cinnamon sticks, some whole cloves, orange zest and a couple small pieces of apple (optional) and simmer on low heat, stirring occasionally, until the wine is piping hot and the flavors from the basket are imbued throughout. I like to add a couple teaspoons of sugar at the end, and if I'm feeling adventurous, a small pinch of curry powder.

I realize this is not really "cooking" with wine, per se, but it's a great way to finish an opened bottle of red that you weren't crazy about.

Re: Cooking with wine

Joe Power — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 19:43:03 -0000

Steve: I don't wait for a bottle that I don't want to drink, but those tend to pile up now and then. I'll go buy a bottle for cooking if need be, but I rarely waste any of what I am drinking. ;)

Re: Cooking with wine

Joe Power — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 19:41:30 -0000

Papa Lou: Unfinished bottles of wine? I'm confused...

Re: Cooking with wine

Steve — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 18:19:10 -0000

Well.. let's take this a step further... I completely understand the concept of not buying "cooking wines"...I believe they are still on the shelves...but they are collecting dust.
But are you saying you wouldn't cook with a wine that you WOULD drink? Are you denying that what you said earlier confirms your aforementioned thesis? (Okay...I'm joking) But seriously, do you simply wait for a bottle that you deem 'unpalatable' and then set it next to the stove? Personally...I'm with the bumper sticker people..."Sure I cook with wine....sometimes I put it in the food" And if I'm cooking Italian...(which is what I do best...) then whatever bottle I'm drinking at the moment, be it a Montepulciano, a chianti or maybe even a dolcetto...(or maybe a mixture of the three...I'm crazy like that) be sure that some of that is going into the food. So yes, I only cook with wine I drink.

Re: Cooking with wine

Papa Lou — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 16:05:12 -0000

A hearty amen to this. I've heard this tidbit yammered out of the mouths of Food Network creatures for years, and I've never bought into it.

Your sentiment also goes for unfinished bottles of wine that are getting long in the tooth (hey, it happens). If I have a third of a bottle of cabernet that I opened last week sitting in my fridge, you bet your ass I'm going to use it boost my marinara sauce or deglace a pan of sauteed veggies instead of throwing it away.

Now, you still want to pay attention to your flavor compatibilities when determining whether an old/flawed wine will go with your dish (i.e., don't dump a super sweet wine into a savory recipe unless you want the dish to have a hint of sweetness and likewise, don't pour a tannic red into a crock of chocolate fondue, etc.), but by and large, the subtleties (and flaws) burn off during cooking.

There's a reason why God made $4.79 bottles of Yellow Tail, plentiful at every supermarket in the U.S. Because it's absolutely ludicrous to pay more for a wine that's going to be cooked with.