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There are those who shudder at the mere notion of sacrificing wine to the level of an ingredient in a recipe. If you put the concept of “cooking wine” in a category with using imported dark chocolate to make hot chocolate for a five-year-old, it’s time to get a clue about the fabulous flavors attainable through the expert use of wine in cooking.
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Dolores Cakebread is the Co-Founder and Executive Vice President of Culinary and Ambience for Cakebread Cellars in California. A past president of Les Dames d’Escoffier, San Francisco Chapter, she is a member of the Women Chefs and Restaurateurs, the International Association of Culinary Professionals and the San Francisco Professional Food Society. Richard Haake is the resident chef for Cakebread. They recommend “cooking with a wine that you enjoy drinking. The varietals that you choose depend upon the dish that you are making.” For dishes that require white wine for cooking, they go with their Sauvignon Blanc, with the Cakebread Cellars’ Cabernet Sauvignon elected for red wine recipes.
According to these experts, common mistakes in cooking with wine include:
- Either not reducing the wine enough or, on the flip side (no pun intended), reducing the wines too much and going beyond a syrup consistency to a scorched pan.
- Overdosing the ingredients with wine, so that the resulting dish tastes too much like wine.
- Selecting a wine that is overly sweet for the recipe.
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Before you cook with it, taste a glass of the wine that you plan to use. That way, you can “ensure the quality of the wine meets your expectations – plus that makes the cooking that much more enjoyable!”
A recipe for one of Dolores’ favorite dishes that uses wine follows. It is an appetizer, Spinach Balls with Mustard-Sabayon Sauce, which contains white wine. |
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Gerard Plazat, Director of Food and Wine / Executive Chef for Agua Dulce Vineyards in California, began his cooking career at age 15 at the local restaurants in Pithiviers Loiret, France, where he grew up. He contends that any wine can be used for cooking – what matters is “the meal and one’s palate.”
The most common mistake in cooking with wine? “People don’t realize they need to use quality wines to cook. The wines need to be full bodied and full flavored,” says Plazat. “If the wine is full, smooth and well rounded with fruity flavors, then it will be all right to use when cooking. But, if you have a wine that still seems young or is just missing a certain aspect that would complete it,” then the inadequacy of the wine will be reflected in the resulting dish, according to Plazat.
4 8 oz. Fillets of fresh Atlantic Salmon
1 and 1/2 cups of Aneas Reserve 2004 Chardonnay
1 medium sized carrot
half an onion
2 sprigs of fresh parsley
1 sprig of fresh thyme
3 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
8 cups water
Topping Ingredients
4 tsp of tartar sauce
1 lemon
Click here to view the Poached Salmon With Aneas Reserve 2004 Chardonnay recipe.
In addition, he cautions that you avoid adding too much spice to the menu, “because the wine provides enough flavor and life already.” In addition, choose your cooking wines carefully, based on the food with which it is used. “Look for wines that have similar characteristics to the food you are cooking,” Plazat explains. His favorite recipe calling for wine as a cooking ingredient is Poached Salmon With Aneas Reserve 2004 Chardonnay, “which is a very fruity and tropical flavored wine from Agua Dulce Vineyards.” Plazat describes this recipe as “fast, easy, and a great main dish for any occasion.”
Mustard Sauce
2 T. white wine vinegar
2 T. dry mustard
1/3 c. sauvignon blanc or other dry white wine
1 egg
3 T. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. sugar
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Spinach Balls
20 oz. (about 3 large bunches) fresh spinach leaves
2 c. herb stuffing mix
2 shallots, minced
4 green onions, minced
¼ c. finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
6 T. reconstituted Butter Buds or unsalted butter
2 small eggs, beaten
Click here to view the Spinach Balls with Mustard-Sabayon Sauce recipe.
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