DO NOT COOK WITH CHEAP WINES
This does not mean that you go overboard and buy expensive wines for cooking. Instead, it means use the wine which you would prefer drinking. Cheap wines do not render pleasant flavours to the dish, beacuse they can be overly acidic. Instead of adding a cheap one you may just leave out the wine part – else you may ruin an otherwise good dish.
MAKE A WINE REDUCTION
Cooking wine till it reduces intensifies it’s delicious flavour, so don’t skip this step. But here, it is worth noting that reducing wine on a pan does burn off the alcohol content, but NOT COMPLETELY. So, don’t assume these foods are ok to serve children or people avoiding alcohol.
WHEN TO ADD WINE
The timing is important. Wine should be added in the initial stages of cooking, this gives it enough time to evaporate. Adding it towards the end of the cooking can make the flavours unpleasantly overpowering. In case you forget to add it in the early stage, reduce it in a separate pan and add it to the main dish. This will ensure the flavours are balanced.
CHOOSING WINES TO COOK
Chicken,fish and shellfish dishes go well with white wine, and red meat tend to be cooked with red wine.
SHELF LIFE
Once the wine is opened it doesn’t keep too long ( a week is the maximum it stays intact) . So if you are still left with some wine and not sure how to keep it for longer. Pour the wine into an ice cube tray, freeze, then store those cubes in a bag. This way you can use them as and when you need. Still you need to ensure they are used up quickly and not kept for too long.
