Wine can be an effective way to transform an ‘okay’ dish into something spectacular. Its acidity can help delicate ingredients stay tender and moist while also enhancing a dish’s sweetness or savoriness. However, knowing its value doesn’t mean you know how to use wine in cooking appropriately. As part of our Wine section, you may be on your way to mastering cooking with wine by taking note of the top tips below.
As a food blogger and expert, I’ve been cooking with wine for years, and I can attest to its amazing benefits. Wine can add a whole new dimension of flavor, aroma, and color to your dishes, making them more appealing and delicious. Wine can also help you create sauces, glazes, and reductions that can elevate your dishes to the next level. In this post, I’ll share with you some of my personal experiences and examples of how to use wine in cooking.
Stay Away from Cheap Wine
As tempting as buying the cheapest wine available for cooking can be, you’re not doing your food any favors. Inexpensive wine can often lack flavor while also being overly acidic. When your goal is to add depth of flavor or complexity to your dish, you likely won’t experience that with cheap wine. Instead, opt for quality wine available from leading vineyards like Cakebread Cellars. Your food might then contain the richness and depth you’re looking for.
One of the biggest mistakes I made when I started cooking with wine was using cheap wine. I thought it didn’t matter since I was going to cook it anyway. But boy, was I wrong.
The cheap wine made my food taste bland, sour, and bitter. It also left a nasty aftertaste that ruined the whole dish. I learned my lesson the hard way, and I never skimped on wine again.
Now, I always use quality wine that I would drink myself, and I can see and taste the difference. For example, when I make coq au vin, a classic French dish of chicken braised in red wine, I use a good bottle of Pinot Noir. The wine adds a rich and complex flavor to the chicken, as well as a beautiful burgundy color. The wine also helps to tenderize the meat and enhance the sweetness of the onions, carrots, and mushrooms.
Watch the Clock
Most experienced cooks know that producing quality food is all about timing. The addition of wine doesn’t change that. In fact, the timing for adding wine to your food matters. Always add it to a dish early to give it time to cook down and intensify the flavor of other ingredients. The extended cooking time can also help with removing the ‘harshness’ of the alcohol.
If you forget to add it in and are considering adding it later, pour it into a separate pan. You can then cook it down into a reduction and pour it into your main dish to avoid negatively altering the flavor.
One of the best tips I learned from a chef friend of mine was to watch the clock when cooking with wine. He told me that adding wine too late or too early can ruin a dish. If you add wine too late, you risk overpowering the dish with the alcohol and acidity of the wine. If you add wine too early, you risk losing the flavor and aroma of the wine.
The trick is to add wine at the right time, usually after browning the meat or sautéing the vegetables, and let it simmer for at least 10 minutes. This way, the wine can reduce and concentrate, as well as infuse the dish with its essence. For example, when I make risotto, a creamy Italian rice dish, I add white wine after toasting the rice, and let it cook until almost evaporated. The wine adds a subtle and refreshing flavor to the risotto, as well as a nice acidity to balance the richness of the cheese and butter.
Make a Marinade
Wine doesn’t always have to be poured directly into a dish. You can marinate meat in wine to tenderize the fibers and add much-needed depth of flavor. Red wine is always preferred for this job, especially as it can enhance red meat’s savoriness. Here’s an easy red marinade recipe.
One of my favorite ways to use wine in cooking is to make a marinade. Wine can work wonders on meat, especially tough cuts that need some extra help. Wine can break down the connective tissues and proteins in the meat, making it more tender and juicy.
Wine can also add a lot of flavor to the meat, especially if you add some herbs, spices, and aromatics to the marinade. One of my go-to recipes is a red wine marinade for beef. I use a dry and full-bodied red wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot, and add some garlic, rosemary, thyme, salt, and pepper. I marinate the beef for at least 4 hours, or overnight for better results. The wine gives the beef a rich and savory flavor, as well as a nice color and crust. I usually use this marinade for steaks, roasts, or stews.
Watch this video to see how to make a red wine steak marinade:
Pick the Perfect Pair
Not everyone is a wine connoisseur who can perfectly pair food and wine. However, there are some fundamental rules to remember that can help you out in the kitchen. Think about the dishes you usually eat with a glass of wine. As a general rule, the wines that pair well with food will also cook well with that same food.
This means that if you drink white wine with chicken, shellfish, fish, and pork, you can also include white wine in the cooking processes for these same foods. The same goes for red wine with beef and lamb. However, some lamb dishes also work well with white wine.
One of the easiest ways to pick the perfect pair is to match the wine with the sauce, rather than the main ingredient. For example, if you’re making chicken with a creamy mushroom sauce, you can use a rich and buttery white wine, such as Chardonnay or Viognier. If you’re making beef with a red wine sauce, you can use a bold and fruity red wine, such as Shiraz or Zinfandel.
You can also use the same wine for cooking and drinking, to create a harmonious balance of flavors. For example, when I make boeuf bourguignon, a classic French stew of beef braised in red wine, I use a dry and earthy red wine, such as Pinot Noir or Burgundy. I also serve the same wine with the dish, to complement the richness and complexity of the stew.
Watch this video for some more tips on pairing wine with food:
Freeze It
Some people choose not to cook with wine because they don’t drink it. It can seem wasteful to buy wine when the rest of the bottle will go to waste. However, it doesn’t have to. If you only use a small amount out of a bottle, you can pour the rest into an ice cube tray and freeze it. You’ll be able to pop out the cubes whenever you need more for a different recipe and save waste.
This is a great tip that I learned from my grandmother, who was an avid cook and wine lover. She always had a stash of frozen wine cubes in her freezer, ready to use for soups, sauces, and marinades.
She taught me that freezing wine doesn’t affect its flavor or quality, as long as you use it within a few months. She also taught me that you can freeze different types of wine in different trays, and label them accordingly. For example, you can freeze white wine in one tray, red wine in another, and sparkling wine in another.
This way, you can always have the right wine for the right dish, without wasting any. For example, when I make chicken soup, I add a cube of frozen white wine to the broth, to give it a subtle and refreshing flavor. When I make tomato sauce, I add a cube of frozen red wine to the sauce, to give it a rich and deep flavor. When I make fruit salad, I add a cube of frozen sparkling wine to the dressing, to give it a festive and bubbly touch.
To conclude…
Cooking with wine doesn’t have to be complicated. Take note of these tips above, and you might be more confident in the kitchen with whichever bottle of wine you bring home from your local vineyard.
Andrew is the founder and CEO of StickerYou, a global, e-commerce leader in custom-printed, die-cut products that empowers consumers and businesses to create high-quality materials for personal expression, marketing, and packaging.
