03/14/08 Mushrooms & Wine

Welcome to Vine to Wine this is your host Linda Moran. I don't know about you, but I really enjoy cooking with mushrooms. They seem to be a natural with wine and that makes it easier to pick a wine to go with them. Today we'll see what we can do with Mushrooms and just about any wine. I like cooking with wine and one item that to me seems to take so well to wine is the mushroom. Although, the fancy ones all have wonderful flavors and textures even an everyday mushroom that you find in the grocery store can become a fabulous soup or sauce with the addition of a little wine. Now mushrooms aren't picky they shine in a bath of white wine or red wine. I make a soup in which I begin by caramelizing a few yellow onions and then I add some mushrooms to the pan and let it cook down and just when all of the liquid has evaporated I add some white wine. I do this a few times until I have used about ¾ of a cup of wine. Then I add some chicken stock, fresh grated ginger and some cilantro. It is fabulous. If you have a nice beef tenderloin or a thick veal chop, nothing is better than a mushroom cabernet sauce to top it off. You can stuff mushrooms with tomatoes and spinach and bake them in white wine. Or you can stuff them with herb bread crumbs and cheese and bake them in red wine. To me mushrooms aren't a fungus they're a sponge for great 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.