Wine Cookery

We've gone through what all the sloshing, swirling and spitting wine is all about now I'm going to give you the information I found on Cooking with wine.  These tips are just generalizations about cooking with wine to help you get into the swing of it.

1.  When cooking with wine, bring the dish to the boiling point, and do not cover - this allows the spirits to evaporate, leaving the essential flavor behind, but do not boil.
2.  When you marinate meat in wine (for flavor and/or as a tenderizer), dry the meat well before cooking or it will not brown.
3.  Meats that will eventually have wine added to their cooking sauce should be well browned at the start of their cooking period, before wine is added.
4.  White wine is best for fish - the only part of the old rule that should be adhered to;  red wine is too assertive a flavor, and will also stain the flesh of the fish an unpleasant color.
5.  Delicate dishes (fillet of sole, for example) can take only a little wine, while more robust ones can stand more.
6.  If a recipe does not call for wine, but you would like to substitute some for part of the liquid, add only a very little at a time, tasting as you go.
7.  Be sparing with sherry, which has a strong flavor; make certain what you use is dry sherry, not one of the sweet varieties;  soup is the exception, where cream sherry may be used.
8.  When you are making a very tart or a very highly, spicily seasoned dish, omit wine.
9.  Taste as you cook - never add so much wine that it drowns out the flavor of the dish's chief ingredient; in dishes with very saulty ingredients, add salt to season only at the end of cooking time, if needed.

Taste Wine Like a Pro

I found this information in a copy of Food and Wine and thought I just had to share it with my readers.  I've seen people on TV swirling and sniffing their wine before being served but never really knew exactly what this told them.  Now I do, I think.

According to the article - wine tasting has its own code of conduct.  Here's what you need to know about all that swirling, swishing and spitting.

Swirl & Sniff - unleash aromas by exercising your wrist:  Set the glass on a table and with your hand on the base, give it a couple of gentle whirls.  Put your nose in the glass and take a big sniff. 

Slurp Like You Mean It - don't be afraid to make noise;  Slurping sucks air into your mouth, so aromas and flavors become more detectable. 

Spit Wine Like a Champ - Practice in the shower.  Spitting is how pros taste dozens of bottles without keeling over.  Use water to boost your skills without ruining your shirts.  Try to be a laser, not a sprayer or dribbler.

75% of what you taste is based on your sense of smell - OK

Be a Wine Super-Sleuth - While tasting a wine, ask yourself these questions:

Acidity - does the wine make you pucker?  If yes, it's high in acid.

Alcohol - does the wine warm up your mouth?  It may be high in alcohol.

Body - does the wine linger on your tongue?  If so, it's full bodied.

Tannins - does the wine dry out your mouth?  It's probably high in tannins.

Aromas & Flavor -0 does the wines smell or taste remind you of a food, a flower or anything else?  Free - associate.

Now we all know what to expect when we swirl, swish and spit our wine.