Cooking With Wine

 

Pintrest has been my new addiction. To start with, I don’t have to use words intelligibly. Just see what I like, and just pin it! More like Re-tweeting. No effort on my part. Not to mention the riot of colours that instantly perk one up! And being a food and wine lover, it’s not difficult to guess which boards I created first. As I was surfing, I came with a lot of recipes that use wine to cook.

 

Now if you are anything like me, you’d always have some left-over wine in your fridge. And you can’t just let them sit for more than a week or so. Of course the next best thing to sipping them is to add them to your food! However, cooking with Wine has a lot of myths around it. Let’s have them cracked!

 

~Which Wines To Use for Cooking~ When deciding what kind of wine to cook with, most agree that your best bet is to cook with a wine that you would drink. Remember, it is only the alcohol that diminishes during the cooking process, not the quality or flavour. If you don’t want to compromise on the end product, don’t compromise with the wine.

~Older isn’t necessarily Tastier~

I do keep leftover wine, white and red, in the fridge. I can use that wine for cooking for at least a week. But never let it sit too long. By that time, the wine has oxidized and will show off odours and flavours, which will detract from the flavours of the dish. Remember, the wine in your food should enhance its flavours and not detract you from them.

~To or Not To Use Table Wines~ Wines designated as “cooking wines” tend to be cheap, salty and often incorporate additional spices or herbs. I prefer to add my own spices and herbs to my cooking and not let the bottled wine do that for me. It will rob my dish of my signature touch, I feel. Also I enjoy sipping my wine while I add it to my cooking – and table wines would wean me off that opportunity.

~Quantity of Wine to be Used~

Just like any other seasoning, the cook should know how to balance the quantity. Too little is inconsequential and too much will be overpowering. Boiling down wine concentrates the flavour, including acidity and sweetness. This might mar the intrinsic flavours of the food. Neither extreme is desirable.

 

~Wine can help cook and simmer foods~ Add wine to dishes you’re cooking in a skillet on the stove, in a slow cooker, or in the oven. Simmered along with the food, it adds flavour and moisture to whatever dish you’re making. While sautéing vegetables, or slow cooking meat, add wine to tenderize, intensify, enhance, and accent the flavour and aroma of food. Poaching and braising fish with wine would add that gourmet touch to your home-made dish. Remember to add the wine at a time so that it can simmer and cook with the food or sauce. Else, it could make the dish taste too harsh.

 

~Wine Helps To Cook with Lesser Oil or Butter~

When you take some of the fat out of dishes, you usually need to add another ingredient to replace the lost moisture. What could be better than Wine! Add Wine to marinades to decrease the oil or fat content. Even for cake mix recipe, reduce the butter and add white or dessert wine to the batter.

 

~Wine is a great ingredient in marinades~ Wine is basically an acid ingredient (which helps tenderize the outside of the meat) and it has a lot of flavour. The wine-based marinade helps keep meat, poultry, or seafood moist while it cooks, too. I have even tried adding Red Wine to Indian meat curry dishes – gives it a distinct flavour, and makes it quite nice to be eaten while sipping the leftover wine.

~Wine can be used in baking, too! ~

For certain types of cakes, using wine or sherry in place of some of the fat not only lightens up the cake but adds complimentary flavours. Wine also adds moisture to the batter thereby assuring a softer cake that would melt in your mouth!

 

I think all the Wine in Food talk is making you contemplate your next recipe with wine. Yes, do go for it. But remember, Wine is not for all dishes. And never include more than one dish with wine in a single meal. The key is being subtle. Happy cooking with and sipping wine!

 

 

Image Courtesy: Google

A Dash of Wine Colours To Brighten Up Your Persona

 

Did you know that even about 200 years ago, women resorted to the vineyard to remove skin blemishes? Well I didn’t. That is until recently. But then I was blissfully ignorant about makeup too. A delicate touch of compact, a dash of kajal, a hurried line over the eyelids, a rub of lipstick or a glide of lip-gloss is all I thought I needed. Okay. Let’s be honest. That’s the most I could manage. The one event that changed it all was the Wine & Lifestyle studio organized by The Wine Club. That evening as Bridgette Jones, the well-known grooming professional, was giving model Tiffany a makeover, she looked like an artist transforming a blank canvas to an attractive art.

Well, I couldn’t do away with my love for wine, you know. So I thought of figuring some looks with the colours of Wine. As I read, I learnt that although Romans esteemed pale faces, a light pink on the cheeks was considered to be attractive, signifying good health. Wine dregs were used for adding that dash of colour even in ancient times. An interesting fact is that when they tried it as eye-shadow the colour did not work!

Light & Bright – White Wine

When I think of the pale white wines, the first impression that comes to my mind is the serenity of a nude natural look. Think of the chilled Rieslings. Or that bottle of Champagne in the ice bucket. Perfect for Indian summers. For a refreshed look match your foundation to the colour of your skin. To open up your eyes, use white or nude eyeliner below your eyes. Pull down gently on your under-eye and trace the line between the lower lashes and the inside rim. A shimmery white or natural colour will immediately brighten up your face. As for nude lips, you don’t need a fashionista to tell you that they are in. One look at any magazine or TV show would make you long for those light brown tawny colours that just plump up your lips.

Pretty In Pink – Rosé Wine

Pink can be soft or strong, depending on your choice. But it’s that flash of colour that has always made pink a passion of the ladies. Be it the blush wines or the pink nail-polish or lipstick – ladies never seem to have enough of pink! No wonder White Blush Zinfandel sales six times their regular counterpart in USA. Pink can give you just a flushed look, making it safe for work, or can become a bold companion, making it a hit with professionals in the glamour world. No wonder you see models in catwalks having varied shades of pink flushed over cheeks and washed over eyelids.

Bold In Orange

Orange – a pop of colour. A shade that can be bright or dusky. But always bold. Orange wine is a white wine that has spent some time in contact with its skin, giving it a slightly darker hue. The darker form of the colour is said to complement Indian complexions. But this one should be used sparingly – with caution – too much of it would spoil the show altogether. A pop of orange shadow with nude lips or bright orange lips paired with nude brown eyes will instantly add a drama. Or if you want to play safe, add a large orange flower to your hairdo and see an instant transformation.

Rendezvous In Red

 

Red is the colour for passion. Bold and beautiful. Think of a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon or Pinot Noir – love at first sight, right? It intrigues you with the colour and the levels of complexities. Red is also the colour of love. So take it to your stride. Red lips, or a hint of red on the cheeks never go out of fashion.

If you love colours, like me, I’m sure you’d want to play with them even on your skin. And reinvent a new you. Happy Colouring, ladies!

 

Image Courtesy: Google 

Fresh Wines for your ‘H O L I’day!

 

Cool breeze is already a distant dream. Ample sun and high temperature are fast becoming part of our lives – with mild breezy evenings bringing temporary respite. Green lawns, budding flowers, and sunny days that poets link Spring to are hard to experience in Indian metro cities. Yet the advent of Spring brings out the joyous, life-affirming positivity in us. And Holi is just an outward manifestation of all that. And such a bright, crisp and sweet season surely should be celebrated with coordinating wines!

 

 

 

Riesling: It has pronounced fruity, varietal flavours expressed in the wines wherever the grapes are grown, and whatever style (dry, medium, sweet) is made. Riesling is an aromatic white grape variety, its fruity and floral rather than the herbaceous like Sauvignon Blanc.  In the cool climate it has a taste of green apples with citrus tones and a lot of freshness. It gives an overall sweet zest to the palate. With good age it exhibits its true nature of a very popular and loved German wine.

 

                                             

 

Sauvignon Blanc: Some attribute the success of Sauvignon Blanc to its ability to create a clear, clean, crisp, refreshing, unoaked wine. A clear contrast to the Chardonnay, which is made in wide range of styles. Made in Loire Central vineyards of France and Sauternes, Graves from Bordeaux, in the cool climates of Australia and New Zealand, in the Napa Valley of America and also in Chile and South Africa.  It is an aromatic white grape variety displaying strong aromas of green fruits vegetation. It’s usually high in acidity medium bodied and almost dry. Unlike the reds it is a fresh and its new world wines are very popular.

 

                                              

 

Sparkling Wines:  Be it a Prosecco or an Asti DOCG or Sekt or evening  the most well known Champagne, sparkling wines are always a favourite when people are celebrating  or not. Being in high demand and limited in supply it always keeps its patrons wanting more, and maybe also being a little heavy on the pockets it’s always appreciated.

 

                                                   

 

Sherry: It is a dry medium or sweet fortified wine made around the town of Jerez de la Frontera in southern Spain. The base wine is a neutral white through its special aging process the final product can be amber or even deep brown in colour. Fino and Manzanilla sherries are pale in colour, dry, medium bodied typically matured in the solera process. My favourite would be the Harvey’s Bristol Cream because its creamy nutty aromas balanced with a creamy, oaky, vanilla flavoured amber coloured wine with hints of honey and raisin. A finish which reminds me of freshly brewed coffee essence.

 

                                                       

 

So which one would enhance your Holi mood? Bhaang in the morning and Wine in the evening. Aaaahhhh.. Now isn’t that a perfect day! 

 

 

 

Inputs: Arka Bhattacharya, ‘Complete Wine Course’ by Tom Forrest

Images: Google