Cooking With Wine

I have become quite fond of cooking.  I really enjoy finding new recipes and bringing them to life!  I also, as most of you know, love wine.  What could be better than bringing the two together!?  Yes, I love to have a glass (or two) of wine while cooking, but today I am talking about cooking with wine as one of the ingredients!

First, decide on your recipe.  Obviously, it needs to call for wine if you are a novice at making up your own recipes.  You don't want to simply add wine if you aren't familiar with the types of recipes that call for it.  At that point, does the dish call for red or white wine?  The rule of thumb I have found over time, is to use the wine that you plan to enjoy with your meal in your recipe.  If you are working with a darker meat, such as steak, go with red wine.  If you are preparing a lighter meat, such as fish, go with a white wine.  Pork stands in the middle and can be prepared with either.  Further, consider using a wine from the region of the dish you are preparing.  For example, is dinner going to consist of a Spanish dish that calls for wine?  Consider using a Rioja!

If your dish calls for white wine, make sure to watch for other acidic ingredients that may need to be reduced to make room for the acid in the wine.  The more delicate the fish or vegetables, you may want to consider a dry non-oaked wine.  Cooking Light Magazine suggests a dry American Sauvignon Blanc if the recipe calls for white wine.  Making a tomato sauce packed with tomatoes, onions and carrots?  Consider a fuller-bodied, less dry red or white wine.  For heartier dishes, try a Zinfandel or Petite Syrah.  A lighter dish might call for a Pinot Noir or a Chianti.

Deciding on the brand of wine to use for your recipe calls for a simple analysis - if you wouldn't drink it, don't cook with it!  This is why "cooking wines" are not recommended.  However, you also don't want to use the best bottle you have, either.  An everyday bottle will work just fine.  In making your decision as to type of wine, consider what flavors you would like to elicit from your dish.  WebMD.com suggests you cook with white wine if you are looking for melon, apple, pineapple, pear, citrus, vanilla, caramel, olives and mushrooms.  If you are looking to elicit berries, peaches, currants, plums, cherries, oranges, chocolate or coffee - use red wine.

Wonder when to use fortified wines such as Sherry?  Cooking Light Magazine offers this information:

-Port has a rich sweetness and depth that's especially good in meat-based casseroles.
-Sherry's complex roasted nutty flavors can enhance just about any soup, stew, or sautéed dish. Two styles of Sherry that work best are Amontillado or Oloroso.
-Madeira can be mesmerizingly lush with toffee-caramel notes. Use the medium-rich style known as Bual, a touch of which will transform ordinary sautèed mushrooms. 
-Marsala's light caramel-like fruitiness is an integral part of Mediterranean sautès, many of which bear the wine's name in their titles.

Cooking Light Magazine also makes some suggestions for substituting wine for oil.  For example, if you are sautéing vegetables, consider utilizing a little wine in place of oil or butter.  It is healthier and will provide the flavor and moisture you will need.  Also, with a marinade, reduce your typical 1/2 cup of oil to 1/4 cup and add 1/4 cup of wine.  Finally, substituting a dessert wine for oil in a cake would be a delicious and healthy touch.

There is one myth I must dispel:  some people believe all the alcohol is cooked off during food preparation.  This is not true. However, depending on the method of preparation, a substantial amount reduction in the wine can be attained.  The following table was found at http://www.ochef.com/165.htm

Preparation Method Percent of Alcohol Retained 

alcohol added to boiling liquid & removed from heat - 85% alcohol flamed - 75% no heat, stored overnight - 70% baked, 25 minutes, alcohol not stirred into mixture - 45% baked/simmered, alcohol stirred into mixture: 15 minutes - 40% 30 minutes - 35% 1 hour - 25% 1.5 hours - 20% 2 hours - 10% 2.5 hours - 5% 

As with any type of cooking, have fun and experiment!

Here is a simple recipe from WebMD.com to get your started!

Merlot & Onion Roast

2 pounds beef top round roast, or similar (this roast is usually already trimmed of all visible fat)
Salt and pepper
8-10 garlic cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons canola or olive oil
3/4 cup French onion soup, condensed, from a can (such as Campbell's)
3/4 cup merlot (or other mellow red wine)

If your roast is the rolled-up type, remove mesh or ties from surface and unroll the roast. Arrange garlic cloves evenly on top, and then sprinkle freshly ground salt and pepper over the top. Roll the roast up (but don't put any mesh or ties back on).

Start heating the canola or olive oil in a medium nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat. When hot, add the rolled-up roast to the pan and let the bottom brown for a couple of minutes. Flip and brown the other side (a couple minutes more). Carefully place browned roast in slow cooker so that it remains rolled up.

Pour onion soup concentrate and wine over the top. Cover and cook on LOW for about four hours.

Feel free to comment on our blog with your own recipes that include wine!

Cheers!

Mary Jo

Wine Maker's Dinner

     Saturday evening was a first for two of the winos (Mary Jo was busy having a fun weekend with her hubby in Beverly Hills), we had our first ever “Winemaker’s Dinner” featuring Cobblestone Ridge Pinot Noir, that our husbands produced in my basement. Our guys were excited to try out their first batch of wine, but a little anxious as well. So we decided what better way to try their new wine than pairing with a great dinner and throw in a blind tasting to boot!

 

    

     Before we sat down to dinner, we decided to match the Cobblestone Ridge up against two other moderately priced Pinots from California. We chose the 2010 Castle Rock Mendocino County Pinot which came in at just under $15 and a 2011 Carmel Road Monterey Pinot priced at about $20 a bottle. Mike and Bart were a bit nervous trying their wine at such an early stage (only 6 months in the bottle), but they were hoping to learn from their first batch to improve future wines. And what better way to learn than tasting and experiencing! To make the tasting more interesting, we decided to invite our neighbors and friends, Jim and Carla, to get an unbiased impression. Each couple had three small carafes labeled a, b, and c filled with the three wines. We had time to examine the color both in the carafes and in our glasses, the nose, and finally the taste. We all made sure to save a bit of the wine to try with the dinner as well! When the results were in Mike and Bart were pleased. Although most were able to determine which wine was The Cobblestone, they felt it was very close quality to the Castle Rock wine which has had more time to mature. It will be interesting to let the wine sit 6 more months and see how it changes.

 

     Then it was time to eat! Everyone was starving after smelling the wonderful aromas from all food preparation. In deciding on the menu for the evening we tried to choose dishes that would pair well with Pinot. Bart made a fantastic pork loin rolled in spinach, spices, cheese, and pork belly! He found the recipe in the Wall Street Journal, Pragmatist's Porchetta. I made my Smoked Gouda Risotto with Spinach and Mushrooms (Cooking Light 1999 and myrecipes.com). There were plenty of green vegetables and Greek salad to top things off. Everything tasted fantastic and paired nicely with all of the Pinot Noir. We also enjoyed opening a 2008 J Vineyard Pinot, a 2011 Decoy Pinot, and to top things off a 2009 Elk Cove Shea Vineyard Pinot (thanks Bart and Lisa)-just to get the comparison of between Oregon and California Pinots. For dessert we had Bissinger’s Porcini Truffles. If you ever have a chance to pair those truffles with a Pinot-don’t miss out.

     What more can you ask for in an evening? We had great friends, wonderful conversation, delicious food, and fantastic wine. In the process we all learned a bit more about wine and the care and time it takes to make good wine. It really makes you appreciate all those hard working growers, pickers, winemakers, and all the support people it takes to make the wine we love to enjoy.

 

Cheers,

Beth

 

Wine Word of the Week

 

 

Deacidify -winemaking process undertaken only after very cool summers whereby the acidity of a wine or must is deliberately reduced, usually by adding calcium carbonate (chalk) or occasionally water.



Fun(gus) With Wine

     I enjoy receiving my Cooking Light Magazine each month. Looking for new recipes to try with the family that are tasty, but not over the top in fat and calories is something I look forward to. In the latest issue, January/February 2013, a suggestion in the Match Me column caught my attention. Lisa, Mary Jo, and I enjoy pairing wine with food, and are always looking for that next “ahhhh” pairing we can discover. I was intrigued by the Cooking Light’s suggestion to pair a Spanish Rioja with an earthy mushroom dish. In the past my tried and true pairing with mushroom dishes has been Pinot Noir, but I do enjoy a nice Rioja, so I decided to put these two wines to a taste test with my husband and myself as the judges.

    
 I have to admit in the past I was the first to pull mushrooms off a pizza or push them to the side of my plate. I hated the texture, and didn’t see any reason to make them part of my cooking repertoire.  My husband on the other hand has always loved mushrooms. The fact that most of the mushrooms that I had tried in the past came out of can and look like they might bounce if you drop them may have something to do with my distaste for them. Luckily with age (there are advantages to getting older) I have become more adventurous in my gastronomical endeavors, and I have come to appreciate mushrooms in my dining. It helped that I had life altering food moment on my 25^th anniversary trip with my husband at Charlie Palmer’s Dry Creek Kitchen in Healdsburg, CA. Mike and I were fortunate enough to enjoy a wine pairing dinner as part of our celebration. I would have to say it was one of the best, if not the best dining experiences of my life, and in the process opened my eyes to the wonders of mushrooms. What changed my opinions of mushrooms?? A wonderful mushroom soup paired with a Russian River Valley Pinot Noir. I’m not kidding; I wanted to jump in a vat of that soup!! And the Pinot Noir to me was the perfect pairing, and that is why my first thought when pairing a mushroom dish is to go with a Pinot.

     First I needed to find the recipe I wanted to try pairing with a Rioja and Pinot Noir. I looked at the recipe recommended by the magazine article, but thought I would search a bit more and I found a winner on myrecipes.com. It is a Smoked-Gouda Risotto with Spinach and Mushrooms and just happens to be a Cooking Light recipe from 1999. Next I needed to pick the wines. The article had recommended Camp Viejo, Rioja Reserva, 2007. I have enjoyed this wine in the past and it is readily available at a reasonable price, but I have recently tried a Rioja that I enjoyed as much, if not better. It is Viña Eguía, Rioja Crianza, 2008 and I found it at my local World Market for $9.99 (regularly $14.99). For the Pinot I went with one of my favorites in the low $20 range, Meiomi Pinot Noir, 2011 for $22 at Plaza Liquor and Wine in O’Fallon, IL. Both wines have received high ratings. The Wine Advocate gave the Rioja 91 points and Wine Spectator rated the Meiomi at 92 points. Let the tasting begin!

     The preparation of the risotto went off without a hitch. The sautéing of the mushrooms warmed the winter house with a wonderful, earthy richness. Mike also grilled some T-bone steaks for himself and our 15 year old son, and I fixed a green salad with a balsamic vinaigrette dressing. The wine was opened about ½ hour before the meal was ready.  

 

THE TASTING

Meiomi Pinot Noir

We have both enjoyed this wine in the past and were not disappointed tonight. Cherry, spice, nicely balanced, Mike thought it tasted like a cherry cola! The risotto definitely enhanced the finish on this wine. Mike thought there was a taste explosion at the back of his mouth. He loved it with the T-bone so much I had to try a taste.

Viña Eguía, Rioja Crianza

The nose on this wine was much earthier than the pinot so I was a bit surprised when tasted alone it seemed very jammy compared to the pinot. With the risotto it definitely tamed the fruit and the finish was much enhanced. This wine was delicious with the steak.

RESULTS

The risotto was a definite hit and although both wines went well we both agree the Meiomi was the winner, hands down.

Cheers!
Beth


WINE WORD OF THE WEEK
Earthiness-a common wine term used to identify the subtlety and terroir characteristics of Old World wines such as Italian Chianti, French white and red Burgundy and Rhone wines, Spanish Rioja, among many others. Some other "earth" words used in wine descriptions are dusty, flinty, chalky, minerally, mushroom, truffle (the fungus, not the candy), forest floor, humus, wet leaves, tea leaves, and barnyard.  Get the picture? Not the old mud pies you made as a kid :).