Cooking with Wine, with Recipes

Recipes
Southwestern Short Ribs Bourguignon
Portuguese Mussels
Wild Striped Bass with Red Wine Butter Sauce
Coq au Vin with Plums
Black Forest Cake

Written and produced by Stephen Exel
Photographs by Squire Fox

These are the months when Sunday is my favorite day to cook. Nothing keeps the chill away more than filling the house with the tempting aromas of sumptuous beef bourguignon or coq au vin—the kind of wine-laced, slow-cooked dish to delve into when time is not of the essence.

Wine provides a subtle background to ingredients and coaxes out their fullest potential, infusing a richness to red meats, a buttery finish to chicken, or a vinegary brightness to fish. Choose the right wine for cooking and, ironically, you won’t taste it in the finished dish; you’ll taste its essential qualities.

On a recent visit to Asheville, North Carolina, to visit the storied Biltmore estate, I got together with Grand Bohemian Hotel executive chef Adam Hayes to cook up a few new renditions of wine-based dishes, using the time-honored techniques of marinating, braising, and reducing. We even did a little baking, using a sugar-intense port.

Choosing wine for cooking has a few basic tenets, the first of which redefines the term “cooking wine.”

“Don’t cook with wine you wouldn’t drink,” Hayes says. “Try the wine before you cook with it.” Choose an inexpensive bottle from an established label—but don’t waste the auction house purchase you’ve cellared for a special occasion. Serve that with dinner.

For red wine-based dishes, burgundy and pinot noir are excellent in recipes with such herbs as oregano, sage, or thyme. Cabernet sauvignon will bolster heartier dishes such as lamb; zinfandel will add its inherent spiciness. For white wine-based recipes, chardonnay’s buttery, oaky notes pair with stews packed with slow-cooked root vegetables. Use sauvignon blanc’s acidic, herbal qualities to enhance recipes with basil, tarragon, or fennel. For spicy or peppery chicken, shellfish, or fish, go with fruity, floral gewürztraminer, riesling, or viognier. Use fortified wines such as port, sherry, or Madeira for baking with chocolate.

“Adding a dash of wine, even when the recipe doesn’t call for it, can be a game-changer,” Hayes says. “As the alcohol cooks off, the base notes of the wine linger.” I agree—the result combines the rewards of a favorite comfort food and a glass of wine—a perfect prescription for a cold winter day.