02/22/08 Cooking Wine

Welcome to Vine to Wine this is your host Linda Moran and today we will be answering a question from the email. Recently a listener wrote to ask, "Linda, what kind of wine do you cook with?" It may sound easy to cook with wine but there are so many misconceptions that surround the practice of using wine as a cooking liquid. First and foremost and one that I repeatedly remind you of is not to cook with a wine you would not drink. If you have w a wine that you do not think smells or tastes good then why I ask you would you put it into something that you are going to eat? Trust me it will not likely get better. Another misconception  no you will not likely get drunk eating food that has been cooked with wine. The alcohol in the wine evaporates as you cook with it, little to none is left by the time you eat it. What I enjoy about cooking with wine is that it is versatile. It makes a flavorful marinade and you can use it as part of the liquid when you are cooking a soup or stew. It is great to use to deglaze a pan when making a sauce. Steaming shellfish with white wine and herbs is a favorite practice of mine. If you have never poached pears or apples in wine I recommend you try it. As far as what wine I use  it is usually whatever wine has a flavor profile that suits the dish I am preparing. I cook more with white wine than I do with red. I like cooking with port and sherry as well. So enjoy cooking with wine just make certain it is drinkable wine. Remember to send your wine questions to Linda at vine to wine dot net and thank you for joining me on today's Vine to Wine.