"I like cooking with wine,
sometimes I actually put it in the food."


Practical Cooking Tips

• Please don’t use cooking wine! Just because it says cooking wine does not mean it is better for cooking.  It is usually inferior wine that is not good enough to drink.  My simple rule is: Wine that is not good enough to drink is not good enough to cook with.  Save some from the last meal; or since we rarely seem to have leftover wine, open a new bottle and drink the rest with the meal.  I have even seen small bottles of cooking wine sell for more than regular wine, and people use it because it says "cooking wine"—so that must be the stuff to use for cooking.  Don’t do it.

 

• Add wine early enough to allow the alcohol to evaporate and produce a subtle taste (except for fortified wines you might want to add at the end).

 

• Reduce the wine to intensify its flavor. If you cook wine uncovered for 10 minutes, it will reduce to half or less.

 

• Use white wine for lighter-colored dishes and red wines for darker meats or stews.

 

• Wine used in a marinade will tenderize in addition to adding flavor.

 

• When cooking with milk, eggs, cream, or butter, add the wine first to prevent curdling.