How to Cook With Dry White Wines
Turning the ordinary into the extraordinary, dry white wine makes a great addition or substitution in many types of meat, grain, noodle, rice and soup dishes. Some of the alcohol contained within the wine itself burns off through evaporation when heated during the normal cooking processes. The flavor left behind ranges from subtle and fruity to bold and smoky, depending on additional recipe ingredients and whether the ingredients contrast or enhance the wine's natural flavors and aging methods.
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Things You'll Need
- Chardonnay
- Sauvignon blanc
- Chenin blanc
- Dry champagne (choice of brut, extra brut, dry or extra dry)
- Liquid measuring cup
- Tablespoon measure
Instructions
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Although chardonnay is typically recommended for advanced cooks who are experienced in the art of cooking with wine, there's no need to shy away from it, provided you experiment by adding tablespoons to a recipe and then build up from there to taste. Two tablespoons of chardonnay added to an off-the-shelf Alfredo sauce adds flavorful richness and complexity to pasta. Chardonnay may also be added to other cream-based sauces or dishes such as oyster or clam chowders. It can mask or overpower most fish but works well injected into chicken or turkey before baking -- or placed in a steamer pan in the oven during poultry roasting.
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Although technically a dry wine, the light fruitiness of sauvignon blanc works well with dishes that call for pork and apples. If using a slow cooker, mix 2/3 cups of wine with 1/3 cup of water to equal liquids called for in the recipe. To maximize the flavor of the wine and meat if cooking on the stove, consider marinating the pork for four hours before cooking in a pan. For extra lean cuts of pork, start with vegetable oil to brown the meat and then add 1/8 cup of wine and cover to steam in the flavor and keep moist.
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The floral, fruity and sweet woody taste in dry chenin blanc makes a nice marinade for fish and shellfish before grilling. Thirty minutes is all that's needed. To use chenin blanc in rice dishes, blend with equal parts of orange juice and water to perk up wild rice. Dried or canned cherries, mandarin oranges, blueberries or cranberries can also be added to white, brown or wild rice -- along with 2/3 parts water and 1/3 part wine. Follow liquid measurement instructions according to your rice cooker or packaged rice directions.
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Tips & Warnings
Refrigerate leftover dry white wine in a screw top bottle to keep it fresher for a longer period of time.
The morning after a party, don't toss out that leftover bottle of flat champagne. Collect 2 cups of champagne and turn it into dessert by making sherbert -- with additional water, cream and sugar -- or sorbet, with additional water and sugar.
Avoid using cooking wines because they can vary in quality and cause inconsistent results in recipes. Use a dry white wine that is of high enough quality to drink. Decent dry table wines can be purchased for anywhere from $4 up for a 750-ml bottle -- such as Crane Lake Chardonnay, on sale, or Charles Shaw varietals, also called Two Buck Chuck, at Trader Joe's.
References
- Photo Credit white wine image by inacio pires from Fotolia.com
