The average person is used to wine accompanying a meal as a relaxing beverage. However, those who cook know all about wine as a flavor enhancement. The right usage of wine in a recipe can give a certain boost to the overall taste of the final product.
Seafood with Wine
One common recipe that benefits strongly from wine is shrimp scampi, which calls for white wine. In fact, a good dry white wine is recommended for dishes featuring seafood where you don’t want to add sweetness to the dish but wish to enhance the flavor.
If you’d prefer to use a white wine sauce, here is a basic recipe that you can create from scratch:
White Wine Sauce
• 1/3 cup of finely chopped onion
• 1/2 cup of fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 1/4 cup of a dry white wine
• 2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 2 teaspoons of finely chopped fresh chives
• Some cooking spray
First, heat your skillet up over medium-high heat. Next, coat the pan with a cooking spray and add your chopped onions sautéing them for two minutes. Be sure to stir frequently.
Stir in your chicken broth, white wine, and white wine vinegar and bring the contents to a boil. Cook everything until the contents are reduced to about a fourth of a cup. This should take about five minutes, but may vary based on cooking temperatures.
Remove the sauce from the heat before you stir in the butter and chives.
Using Wine to Enhance Chicken
One of the best ways to help chicken absorb flavor is letting it marinate. Marinating is especially useful for grilling. Be sure to allow an efficient amount of time for marinating; marinating for too little time won’t leave your recipe with enough flavor. But marinate the chicken for too long, and the chicken might get a bit too mushy.
When it comes to wine, go with a dry white wine for a wine-marinated chicken breast meal or opt for a succulent red wine for chicken cacciatore.
Recipes Featuring Beef or Pork
If there is leftover red wine that you’re not sure what to do with, consider making quick beef bourguignonne, featuring sirloin steak.
Another good use of wine would be in a slow cooked recipe. Try making a sweet and spicy BBQ pulled pork. One tidbit: Be sure when using a wine in a slow cooking recipe that it actually includes wine as an ingredient. Sometimes wine can cause the meat to become overdone to the point that it’s inedible!
Soup and Wine
This may seem like an unlikely match, but believe it or not, there are ways where wine can work well in a soup. For instance a white wine in French onion soup is typically meant to offset the sweetness of the caramelized onions.
Great Wine Vinegar and Vinaigrette Options
There are numerous options for getting a bit of wine flavor without needing the actual alcoholic beverage as an ingredient.
For example President Obama’s chili recipe works well with red wine vinegar. You can also use white wine vinaigrette for extra flavor in this arugula endive salad.
Wine is great for additional flavor when smartly used. If you feel that you aren’t comfortable cooking with wine, don’t keep any in the house, or would prefer to avoid alcohol, there are plenty of great alternatives if you know where to look. Whatever you do, remember that making the most out of recipes requires creativity and a willingness to get out of your comfort zone.
